Words Can KillBut They Can Heal Too
by lilballerette10
Summary: It's been two weeks since they rescued Colby from the Chinese freighter. As everyone tries to deal with the aftermath, Colby can't seem to catch a break anywhere. Rated T due to the torture aspect in this story.
1. Friendships Tested

It's been exactly 2 weeks since Colby's been back on the team. Two weeks of Colby trying to make amends, two weeks of his team trying to forgive him and move on, well at least everyone but David.

David couldn't see past the betrayal, the two years of lies, which in his mind added up to two years of a fake friendship. David also couldn't stop feeling guilty, like he had told Megan, until he saw that needle sticking out of Colby's chest, he was sure the ex-soldier was guilty of everything he was being accused of. David was struggling between being mad at Colby and hating himself for not trusting Colby. He didn't know how to let out his self hatred so he took that out on Colby as well; giving him the cold shoulder, ignoring him whenever he could, practically making Colby feel like crap. David knew what he was doing was wrong, it wasn't like he was outright saying anything mean to Colby but he knew actions spoke a lot louder than words and he knew it was hurting Colby, he could see it in the young agents face every single day. He also knew he shouldn't be treating his best friend, or ex-best friend, or whoever he was to him now, like this but he was just so hurt…too hurt to apologise to Colby and had too much pride to admit he may be at more fault than Granger, so he didn't even try.

Colby on the other hand was trying every single day to repair all the broken relationships he had caused with his team, particularly with David. He had made progress with everyone except David. Charlie never hated him to begin with, but that was just like Charlie, the guy simply didn't have a mean bone in his body. Liz, as she had mentioned to him, hadn't been around long enough to be as deeply hurt by what he had done and Don and Megan, although they admitted things were still a bit awkward, had practically forgiven him and moved on. It's funny though, one would think that things would be looking up for Colby since he had the forgiveness of Don, Megan, Charlie, and Liz, but the truth of them matter was he still didn't have the acceptance and forgiveness of the one person he truly wanted it from, David. And that hurt more than anything.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It was a quiet Monday afternoon and everyone was in a pretty good mood. It had been a quiet day so far, which was rare at the FBI, so everyone knew to enjoy it while it lasted. Don and Megan were sort of just hanging around, searching up old files, and David was in the break room grabbing some coffee. Colby, seeing David alone, walked in, he figured maybe attempt number 125 of trying to have a conversation with David would be successful, so Colby walked into the break room.

"Hey man," he said as he cautiously moved beside David to grab a cup of coffee.

David turned around and walked out without so much as an acknowledgment.

Colby let his head hang; maybe attempt 126 will be successful.

********

Lunches were pretty awkward in the break room as well. Whenever they'd get the chance the team usually had lunch together but these days when David would see Colby in the break room he'd just opt to have lunch at his desk or if Colby walked into the break room to have lunch and David was already there, he'd get up and leave.

Colby hated how things were between them, they used to go for runs everyday during lunch, and now David couldn't even stand to be in the same room with him. To any outsider Colby would seem like David's arch enemy.

But Colby wasn't giving up, he was determined to walk into that lunch room everyday until David stayed in there. However today was different, today Colby saw something that made his heart ache, something that made him realize that maybe David would be better off without him.

_Colby's POV_

As I walked to the lunch room, knowing David was already in there, I was determined to make him stay. As I approached the lunch room I heard something that oddly sounded like laughter. From where I was standing I could see Don and Megan, who had their backs to the door, talking about something and laughing, and then I saw David, who was sitting down facing the door, say something back to them. David then did something that I hadn't seen in weeks…he smiled…no not just smiled…he was actually laughing. David actually looked happy for the first time in weeks, and I felt like the scum of the earth because in my attempts to get David to forgive me I never considered how much I must be hurting him by making him face me everyday. I didn't realize that I was keeping that smile off of David's face and that laughter out of his mouth. I didn't realize how glad I was to see David actually smiling and laughing until I heard his laughter again, man I've missed his crazy laughter. I never realised that my heart could feel so happy and so miserable at the same time. It was at that moment that I realised that I was keeping David from being happy, that maybe if I was out of the picture David could be happy again. That fact alone hurt more than any of Lancer's needles ever could.

Not wanting to wipe off the only smile David's shown in weeks off his face, Colby took one last look at David and decided to walk away. What he didn't count on was David locking eyes with him. For a brief second his heart filled with hope thinking David would smile at him or give him some sort of acknowledgment that it was okay for him to enter, but instead the smile was slowly starting to disappear off David's face, and Colby understood…he understood clearly…so he gave David a weak smile and walked away.

Colby walked through the FBI doors to have lunch outside…by himself.

_David's POV_

I'm not exactly sure why what Don said made me laugh but it did! It's been the first time in weeks I've heard my own laugh, I started to forget what it sounded like. It felt good to be able to laugh again, to actually smile, this whole thing with Colby has sucked out loud. And speak of the devil, just as I look up who do I see. I feel the anger boil inside me and I glare at him. I just know he's going to walk in here and ruin my good mood in his attempt to make us reconcile. As I'm waiting for him to walk in so I can walk out, I see that he hasn't moved from his spot and I look at his face…and this time I actually look at it, and my anger starts to be replaced with something else…I'm not exactly sure what though, it's definitely something akin to guilt. Colby looks sad…like someone stole my toy solider sad…and I realize that he's not going to walk in this time. He gives me a weak smile and he just walks away, walks outside and sits on a bench by himself pulling out his sandwich. I want to feel angry, I want to be mad at him, but I feel more guilt than anything else. I don't want to feel guilty, I shouldn't have to feel guilty, HE lied to me, not the other way around, he betrayed our friendship, orders be damned, the last 2 years of our friendship have been a lie, every personal thing I told him, and the whole time he was spying on us…on me…who knows if he went and told his superior any of the personal shit I told him. God I just want to be angry with him, but this guilt I feel, like right now as I watch Colby sitting out there by himself, it seems to be a reoccurring emotion with me lately.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The next two days are pretty quiet at the FBI as well, there are some small cases, a drug bust here a gang bust there, but nothing too major. David had started to notice Colby's distance since that incident in the break room. Colby hasn't attempted to get David to talk to him and he's been having lunch outside by himself the past 2 days. David feels guiltier than ever but he can't put his pride aside and go talk to Colby, he still can't get past the betrayal.

The third day starts out quietly but soon turns into a hunt for a kidnapper. This has been the most action the team has received all weak and all of them have been itching for a good case. Don calls everyone into the meeting room.

"His name is Mike Marciano, the name should be familiar to you guys, we helped him a few months back in getting his daughter back from those kidnappers."

"So why is he our target now?" questioned Megan.

"Marciano has kidnapped his best friend Philip Recosie. We don't know why, his best friend's wife called the police yesterday when she saw her husband being taken by Marciano. We've been called in because we've dealt with Marciano so L.A.P.D is hoping we'll know how to talk Marciano out of this since we helped bring his daughter back"

"I can run an analysis on potential places where Marciano can be holding Recosie, so that we can narrow down our search," piked in Charlie.

"Great Chuck, get right on that! As for the rest of you, I had two federal agents contact me earlier today when they heard we were on the case. These two have dealt with the L.A.P.D on several kidnapping cases so they have offered their assistance. Oh here they are right now"

As the two agents walked into the room, Colby froze.

The agents introduced themselves and shook every agents hand in the room. And they finally made their way over to Colby who was sitting at the other end of the room from where they entered.

"Agent Granger, it's a pleasure to meet you, we hear you're a hero," said Agent Martin.

Colby didn't know what to say, he stood there for a second looking at the hand presented to him. Every bone in his body told him not to shake that hand, but he didn't have a choice, his team couldn't know. So he shook their hands as they smiled at him.

David was watching the interaction a few feet away and he could see the uncomfortableness on Colby's face and he could see Colby's body go rigid. He saw something in Colby's eyes, something really close to fear and as Colby apprehensively shook Agent Martin's hand David didn't know why but for a second his protectiveness of Colby came out and he wanted to go rip their hands apart. Something was up, David could tell, but once again his pride got in the way of talking to Colby about it.

Agent Martin and Agent Rintool provided intel that first day and that was simply that. The rest was left to the team and Charlie. Charlie eventually found where Marciano had taken Recosie.

The team was ready with SWAT and headed to the warehouse. The minute they barged in there they found a beaten and bleeding, but very much still alive, Recosie. Don tried to reason with Marciano, this wasn't the Marciano that this team knew months ago. That Marciano was a kind man who loved his family, this Marciano was a man who seemed intent on revenge. Don, David, Megan and Colby stood within feet of eachother, all of them had their guns trained on Marciano. It was David who spoke first.

"Tom, man, you don't want to do this"

"NO?! NO?! How the hell would you know what I want and don't want Agent Sinclair."

"Because we know you Tom, you're a good guy, you don't do this kind of stuff"

"Well maybe I do now!! Maybe I have reason to now!"

"What reason is that Tom?" asked Megan. "What changed in the last few months that made you want to take your best friend's life?"

"IT'S HIS FAULT!" yelled Tom

"What's his fault?" questioned Don.

"Lilly," Tom said with a more defeated voice.

_Lilly, the entire team thought…the daughter!_

"Your daughters fine Tom," replied David.

"HE DID IT! HE DID IT!" Tom yelled as he pointed the gun at Recosie's face.

"Did what?" asked Megan.

"HE STAGED HER KIDNAPPING! HE STAGED IT TO GET MONEY!"

The entire team went quiet. How could that have been, they surely would've caught it.

"HE STAGED THE ENTIRE THING, THE RANSOM WAS GOING TO HIM!"

It was Recosie's turn to finally speak up.

"You were a money hungry pig! I built your empire and you gave me nothing!"

Tom lifted the barrel of the gun to Recosie's head.

"SEE!!!!! THE BASTARD HAD MY BABY GIRL KIDNAPPED, HE PLANNED THE WHOLE THING, HE EVEN PLANTED A BUG IN OUR HOUSE TO SEE WHERE SHE'D BE EVERY MINUTE OF EVERY DAY AND THEN HE REMOVED THE BUG BEFORE YOU GUYS GOT THERE!"

When David heard this something in him snapped. His mind took him back to the interrogation room where Colby had admitted to placing that Chinese bug in that couch two years ago and then removing it when David was in the other room.

"Tom, listen to me, LISTEN TO ME! He's not worth it, you have a family, you have a daughter…you kill him and you'll never see them again! He's not worth it, best friends lie all the time, they betray you and turn their backs on you…they aren't worth it! They're never worth it!!!"

Colby felt his heart sink as he heard those words, he knew David was trying to make sure Marciano didn't kill Recosie, but part of him knew that David's quip was intended for him as well. Don and Megan didn't miss it either.

Marciano seemed to let his body sag a bit at these words.

"He could've gotten her killed…I trusted him…"

"I know man, I know, but killing him, it's not the way. We have a confession out of him now, we can arrest him for conspiracy for kidnapping. He'll get his just desserts, but you gotta let us handle this our way."

Maricano seemed to be considering David's words.

"Okay.." David pushed.

After several minutes of Marciano standing there quietly he finally gave in.

*****Back at the Office*****************************************

"David, break room, now!" Don practically yelled.

"Wutsup Don?"

"What the hell was that?!"

"What was what?"

"You damn well know what I'm talking about David!"

"I was doing my job Don, I kept him from shooting the guy didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did, but don't even act like that was all about Marciano, I know you too well David, that was a jab at Colby."

David just stood there starring at Don.

"So what if it was? I'm entitled at a jab or two here and there!"

Don starred at him with disbelief and took a deep breath and thought about what he was going to say before he said something he'd regret.

"I get that you were hurt by this whole Chinese fiasco okay, hell you were the most hurt out of Megan, Liz, myself and you, there's no doubt about that, but bringing it to work, using it at work…that shit doesn't fly with me Sinclair! Do you understand me! You're not 5 years old, man up and deal with this shit with Colby! Because you bring your personal shit into work cases again and you're on desk duty until you get your mind straight, do you hear me!"

And with that Don stormed out of the room leaving David standing there fuming.

Colby and Megan had heard the entire conversation and Megan could see the guilt on Colby's face.

"Colb, it's not your fault okay"

"How is it not my fault, he just got in shit because of me"

"No, it was because of him, not you, we all have stuff to deal with Colby, we just can't bring it to work, and David knows that as well as you and I do, so don't beat yourself up okay."

Colby just gave her a weak nod as she walked back to her desk. Colby was still standing by the break room as David stormed out of there. He stopped the minute he opened the door and glared at Colby.

"_Not everyone agrees with you Megan," thought Colby sadly._

Everyone was edge for the next few days. David was practically avoiding Don as much as he could, and he was avoiding Colby more than he was before. David eventually realised that he was wrong, but he still didn't appreciate being yelled at for everyone to hear. And Colby, he knew he'd been spending the past few days making Colby feel worse than he knew he already did, and David wanted to apologise, he really did because what he did was uncalled for and he really didn't mean it. He did it on purpose to hurt Colby, and he knew he succeeded, he just didn't imagine he'd feel like such crap for hurting Colby like that. Anytime things seemed like they may get better something happened to make it worse. David took a deep breath, he didn't know how things would ever get back to normal around here.

Colby had spent the last few days thinking about what had happened at the warehouse. Despite the kidnapping and the almost murder, he always came back to David's comment. A part of him knew David said it just to hurt him, but the other part of him believed that David truly meant it, that David truly believed that he was not worth it anymore, that their friendship wasn't worth it anymore. Colby hated being the source of anyone's pain and he hated the fact that he was making his best friends life miserable just by being around. So Colby knew what he had to do.

Colby saw David in the break room and walked in, letting the door close behind him. The minute David saw Colby he started to walk out.

"David can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Can't, gotta go."

"David…please…it's important," Colby said as he turned to face David. David's back was to him but he had stopped in his advance to leave the room.

David stopped when he heard Colby say "please", there was something in his voice, something that David couldn't walk away from. So David turned around to face his former best friend.

Colby took a deep breath.

"I know these past few weeks have been hard, and I know you hate me…"

"_I don't hate you" David wanted to say…but couldn't. _

"But as much as you hate me, you're still my best friend and I don't want to be holding you back, I don't want you to have to feel awkward or uncomfortable at work, and I don't want you to get in trouble because of me. I've seen you smile once in the past 3 weeks, and man you used to laugh all the time," Colby said with a sad smile.

"Don't give yourself so much credit Granger," David remarked bitterly.

"That's…that's not what I'm trying to do David," Colby said as he looked down.

David didn't know why he just said that, he just couldn't seem to have a decent conversation with Colby anymore, he always felt like he had to say something to hurt Colby.

"I just…I'll just cut to the chase, you guys are my family…you're my family…despite everything that's happened I still consider you more than my best friend, I consider you my brother, everyone knows that, you used to know that too. But I don't want to hurt you anymore by sticking around, this team is just as much yours as it is mine, if not more… I think that we can work it out…if you try…but if you don't want to…"

David started to get an uneasy feeling about where this was going.

"If you want me gone, just say the words David, and I'll leave, I'll transfer somewhere else, take that job up in DC or something…" Colby looked up as he waited for David's response.

David stood there, starring blankly at Colby. Colby looked so sad, he looked so alone…and David didn't want him gone, he was angry sure, but the thought of possibly never seeing Granger again…In his heart he didn't want Colby to leave…but his mouth spoke of a different tale

"Yea…I want you gone…."

Colby looked up from the spot on the floor he was so fascinated with and starred at David. He knew this was coming, he hoped it wouldn't but deep down he knew. He had tried to prepare himself for David's remark, but he realised that no matter how hard he had tried, how many times he had pictured David telling him he wanted him gone, it hurt like hell to actually hear it come out of David's mouth. His best friend truly did hate him.

David couldn't believe what he had just said. He saw Colby look at him and he saw the emotions flood through the younger agent's eyes. Shock, hurt, fear, and finally resignation. He could see the tears in Colby's eyes and it took everything in him to hide his own. This time it wasn't David who walked out of the break room, it was Colby, as he shook his head acknowledging David's decision.

**TBC....**


	2. Goodbye

It had been 12 hours since David had told him that he wanted him gone, 12 hours since he almost broke down into tears in front of his former partner, 12 hours since he laid everything out there only to have it thrown in his face.

Not that he blamed David for it; he knew that David had every right to be mad and hurt about everything that happened. Colby knew he was a horrible person, it just sucked that his best friend now felt the same way.

And now there was the whole task of telling the rest of the team that he was leaving. That was going to be hard. He wasn't lying when he said that they were his family. They were the only family he knew now, since his mother practically disowned him after the whole Chinese fiasco. He hated that he had to leave, everything he has known for the past two years was in that office. Never in his career had he worked for a team as close as they all had been, it felt more like a family business than a federal bureau. But he had to leave, David needed him to leave…wanted him to leave. Colby would die for David in a heart beat, and if this was what his brother needed…then he'd give him that, he'd give him anything.

*********************************

It had been 12 hours since he had told Colby that he wanted him gone, 12 hours since he almost witnessed his former partner break down in tears, 12 hours since Colby had laid everything out there only to have it thrown back in his face.

David felt like complete crap. He thought he had been feeling guilty the past few weeks but nothing compared to the guilt he was feeling now. Colby wasn't a bad person, far from it, and he didn't deserve to be treated like one…but David just didn't know how to get past all the hurt. He was never good with dealing with that particular emotion. Whenever David was emotionally hurt his defences came up and he turned angry and bitter and hurtful. He would give anything to take back that look on Colby's face when he told him he wanted him gone. A part of him knew that despite how badly Colby had hurt him by lying for the past 2 years, he has probably caused just as much pain for Colby (if not more) in a matter of 2 and a half weeks.

************************************************

The next morning David was at work as early as he could get there.

"David? What are you doing here so early?" asked Don

"Hey Don, I uh, I slept early last night so I ended up waking early this morning"

"Slept early huh? You look like roadkill bud" Don laughed.

"Well, I guess sleeping too long does that to you" David smiled back.

In reality, David hadn't slept at all, and starring at a plain white roof while lying on his bed wasn't helping his guilty conscience.

Colby walked in almost immediately after David.

"Geez what is it with the agents in this place?" Don joked.

"Hey Don," Colby replied with a small smile. "David" he acknowledged with a small smile as well.

David didn't say anything back but he took a good look at Colby. Colby looked horrible, even worse than him. "_Guess he didn't get any sleep last night either" thought David. _He was pretty sure by the end of the day his guilt would be eating him alive.

******************************************************

The day was pretty quiet at the bureau, it seemed to be a commonality these past few weeks. Around lunchtime Colby called everyone into the break room. As Don, Megan, Liz and David piled into the break room (David because Don had made him), Colby took a good look around at his team and took a deep breath. This was going to be harder than he thought.

Noticing Colby's silence, Don spoke up.

"So whatsup Colb?"

"I uh…" he took a look at everyone again. "I wanted to let you guys know that I took that position at DC, I'll be leaving on Friday"

Everyone stood there stunned. Megan was the first to speak.

"I thought you had decided to stay here? I mean it sure seemed like it."

"Yeah, I know it's just…" Colby made sure he didn't make any eye contact with David because he didn't want his team to know the reason why he was leaving. The last thing he'd want is for them to be mad at David.

David noticed this too. A part of him wished that Colby would just come out and say that it was because of him, he felt like he deserved their anger, but he knew Colby wouldn't do that.

"It's just what Colb?" probed Don.

Colby looked up at Don.

"It's just these past few weeks have been harder than I thought they would be. I figured I could come back here and act like nothing ever happened, you know, have everything go back to normal. But I realized that it can't," Colby said as he looked at the ground.

"I want you guys to know that you're the best team I've ever had, you guys have always been more like family than a team. I just…I need a new start, this whole Lancer thing's really messed me up and I just need to go somewhere where I won't be reminded of it everyday you know," Colby lied.

Don was the first one to walk up to Colby and place his hand on the younger agent's shoulder.

"We understand Colb. You've been through so much, more than you should have had to. We're not mad that you want a change. We're gonna miss you like hell, but you deserve to make peace with what happened and if that means you leaving us…well then…I guess we'll have to learn to let you go," Don smiled sadly.

Megan was the next to walk up and give Colby a hug.

"We love you Colb, and nothing will ever change that. We want you to be happy."

Colby looked up at her and gave her a weak smile. It was taking everything in him not to break down and cry.

David couldn't take this anymore. He couldn't stand to see the pain on everyone's face, especially on Colby's, so he got up and left the break room.

Everyone noticed David's abrupt disappearance. Liz was about to go after him until Don lightly grabbed her hand.

"Let him be for a few minutes, he just needs some time to himself."

Liz nodded and walked over to Colby.

"We're gonna miss you Granger, I don't know who's going to run on this team anymore," she joked.

Everyone couldn't help but laugh. Colby was going to miss this, but as he looked out at David sitting at his desk, he knew that he had done the right thing.

******************************************************

The next few days were pretty solemn around the office. Everyone, except David of course, tried to spend as much time with Colby as they could when they didn't have to be out and about.

On Wednesday when Don was going over a potential case with everyone in the conference room, Agent Martin and Agent Martin and Agent Ross walked into the room. Colby once again froze at the site of the two agents. Don smiled and shook their hands.

"To what do we owe the pleasure?" asked Don.

"We just wanted to come down and personally let you guys know what an amazing job you did on the kidnapping case," Agent Ross smiled.

As Agent Ross talked to the team David couldn't help but notice how Agent Martin was practically starring at Colby, and he definitely didn't miss the uneasiness of Colby. Something was definitely off.

"So any other cases we can assist the FBI with?" asked Agent Martin.

"_What the hell" thought David. "That's a really odd question to ask given that they were on for just one case and specialize in kidnappings"_

David noticed that Don seemed to share his thought.

"Uhh, no kidnapping cases at the moment Agent, but thanks for the offer, we'll definitely call you guys up if need be."

Somewhere throughout the conversation it was made public to the two agents that Colby was leaving for DC on Friday.

"Friday huh?" replied Agent Martin. "They give you some hot shot job for being a hero?"

Everyone else laughed at this but David could hear the sarcasm in his voice. Colby was quiet for a second and David was pretty sure he wasn't going to say anything until.

"Yea, something like that," Colby shot back. David, he didn't know why, but he was slowly cheering on his ex-partner. Something had gone down between Colby and these two agents and despite being mad at Colby, he didn't like the vibe he got off these two agents, especially when they were around Colby.

The agents eventually left and everyone went back to work.

Friday finally rolled around and Colby was at the office packing all his belongings into a box.

"It's going to be quiet without you bud," Don said as he came up behind Colby.

Colby smiled.

"Yea, I just hope the people at DC are as welcoming as you were when I first got here."

"I'm sure they will be Colby," piked up Charlie who had a stack of books in his hands.

Colby couldn't help but smile at Charlie. Charlie holding a stack of books…that's definitely how he's going to remember the young mathematician.

Megan and Liz soon came and they all took turns hugging Colby and telling them that they were going to miss him. Megan and Don started to bring up old memories of Colby's time on the team. Everyone laughed, they had had some really good times as a team.

Everyone noticed that David was nowhere to be seen, and they could see Colby looking for him without trying to be obvious. Megan saw David in the break room and nudged Colby in the arm, tilting her head towards the break room. Colby smiled appreciatively at her and walked towards the break room.

Colby took a deep breath and walked in.

"Hey David"

David just kept his back to Colby and kept pouring his coffee. Colby got the hint.

"So uh…I just wanted to come in and… and say bye."

This was so much harder than Colby had imagined.

"I hope you at least get a new partner that can run," Colby joked trying to lighten the mood.

David didn't say anything, he didn't even so much as acknowledge that Colby was in the room.

"Come on man...you're seriously not gonna talk to me? Not even to say bye? I mean I know what I did was messed up and I know I hurt you and I can never say sorry enough to make it up to you, but the least you can do is just say bye."

Still no response.

"David! Come on man! We were best friends for 2 years! Look at me!"

"Don't kid yourself Granger," David said as he finally turned around. "We weren't best friends for 2 years…how could we have been? I never even knew who you were for the past 2 years."

Colby just starred at him in shock.

"Of course you did! Just because I was undercover doesn't mean I was lying to you about everything David. Everything I said to you, all the stories I told you, every little thing I confided in you was the truth! And all those times you confided in me, that wasn't a lie either."

"Yea and how much of what I confided in you did you go run and tell your boss huh?" snapped David.

"What! None of it! You know me David, I would never do that!"

"HA! That's rich Colby…I don't know you anymore than I know those two agents that helped us on the case! Speaking of which, I saw how they looked at you, you do something to piss em off too?" David remarked bitterly.

"_Shit! Shit! Why did I just say that!" David thought._

Colby froze on the spot and David saw the same fear in Colby's eyes that he had seen each time he was around those agents. He really wished he hadn't just said that.

Colby finally spoke but his eyes remained on the ground.

"Look, I just…I don't want to fight with you David. I'm sorry for everything that happened, I'm sorry I lied to you, I'm sorry that I hurt you, I'm just…sorry."

Colby finally looked up at David.

"I hope me leaving will bring back some sense of normalcy for you, you were truly the best partner I've ever had, and the best, bestfriend."

Colby got up and started walking towards the door. Before he opened the door he turned back to David one last time.

"If it means anything, If I had to do it all over again, spy on you guys all over again…I would tell you what my mission was, I wouldn't tell anyone else, but I'd tell you…protocols be damned."

And with that Colby walked out the door and over to his desk where the rest of his team was waiting for him to help carry his stuff out.

David stood there…just starring as Colby walked out the break room doors. What the hell had he just done? He kept repeating that one thought over and over in his head. He didn't even notice the lone tear that had fallen down his face.

Colby opened the break room doors with a heavy heart. That was not the way he had wanted to end things with his best friend. That was not the way he wanted to say goodbye. God it all just hurt too much. As he walked over to the rest of his team Megan put a supportive arm around his shoulder, knowing all too well what must have happened in the break room.

Don was the first one to break the silence.

"So bud, what do you say we all help you take your stuff to the car?"

Colby smiled at them appreciatively.

"Actually guys, I think it be easier if I just went out alone…I just…I'm horrible at goodbyes," he said as he smiled.

Everyone understood.

"Alrite Colb…well…take care of yourself man, you were truly one of the best agents I've ever had," Don said as he gave Colby a hug. Next was Liz and Charlie and then Megan.

"Aww Megan no don't do that," Colby said as he saw Megan start to tear up.

"I'm gonna miss you so much Colby," Megan said as she sniffled.

"I'm gonna miss you too," he said as he hugged Megan. "I'm going to miss all of you. But I'll come back and visit, I promise."

"You better Granger!" Don said as he wrapped his hand around the back of Colby's neck.

"And keep in touch Colby!" said Charlie with a big smile on his face.

Colby smiled, that was another thing he'd remember about the young mathematician, that big ol' smile of his.

"Don't worry Charlie, I'm sure I'll be calling in a few favours with you," Colby said.

Colby picked up his box and took a look around the office. He was sure going to miss this place.

He looked over the break room where David still was and smiled sadly. He was going to miss his best friend too.

Colby finally walked into the elevator and took one last look at his team. He was trying to keep the tears at bay, he couldn't break down now, he had held out for so long. Colby was willing the elevator doors to close, he could feel a tear about to slip out.

Finally the door closed and that lone tear fell down Colby's face.

****************************************************************

Back at the office everyone sort of just stood around Colby's desk not knowing what to do.

"Look uh…why don't you guys just take the day off okay, we'll all just meet up here on Monday," Don said trying to be a source of strength for his team.

"No, we should be here, we need to be here," Megan said as she looked at the remaining members of her team (minus David).

Don smiled understandingly. Just then Charlie spoke up.

"Hey! Colby left his fishing hook here!" he said holding up the fuzzy object.

"Wasn't that something his dad made him?" questioned Megan.

"Yea!" replied Don. " Wooly…something"

"We should go give it to him, I know it meant a lot to him," Megan said as she looked at it.

"I'll go give it to him," said Charlie. "I think it'll be too hard if he has to see one of you guys."

The team agreed and sent Charlie to hand over the hook to Colby.

******************************************************************

Colby was walking with his head down to his car. This was the worst he could ever remember feeling. He didn't even feel this bad when Lancer was sticking needles in him. He knew it was for the best though, he just had to man up, he deserved this, he knew he did, after everything he had done, everyone he had hurt, he deserved this.

Just as Colby was approaching his car he saw two men step out of an SUV parked right beside his car.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here," Agent Martin mocked.

"I would say it's Agent Colby Granger of the FBI," mocked Agent Ross as they both stood by his car.

Colby froze. It seemed to be a reoccurring move whenever he saw these two agents. Colby was a good 10 feet in front of them but it didn't help the chill that ran down his spine.

"You know," began Agent Martin. "You really shouldn't be out here by yourself"

Colby was about to swallow his fear and say something when he heard…

"Colby, Colby!"

"_Oh god…Charlie," thought Colby._

"Hey Colb you forget…"Charlie said as he held up the hook while at the same time panting for breath from running. That's when Charlie recognized the agents from the case.

"Hey Agent Martin, Agent Ross, what are you guys doing here?"

When the agents didn't reply, he looked at Colby and what he saw in Colby's eyes scared him. Colby looked…scared.

"Colby what's going on?" he asked as he started walking towards Colby.

"Charlie stop.." Colby started.

"Colb…"

"Charlie run…" Colby started as he saw Agent Ross start to move. "RUN!!!!!!!"

Charlie didn't know what was going on but he recognized three things at once , Colby yelling at him to run, Agent Ross starting to approach him, and Agent Martin attacking Colby.

Charlie's heart started to beat fast and he started running as fast as he could. He didn't want to leave Colby but what could he do? He would have to go get Don and David and the team. Charlie saw that Colby had managed to land some punches on Agent Martin, but he also saw that Agent Ross was gaining on him.

Charlie was scared…he was scared for himself…he was scared for Colby.

Agent Ross was getting so close, Charlie knew he couldn't outrun a federal agent. Just as Charlie feared the worst, Agent Ross was tackled down by Colby. Somehow Colby had managed to get Agent Martin off of him long enough to tackle down Agent Ross.

"CHARLIE RUN!!!!!!!!" Colby yelled as he tackled Agent Ross to the ground.

And Charlie did just that, he ran, and he ran.

Charlie looked back in time to see Agent Martin come up behind Colby with a bat and hit him across the head. Charlie saw Colby's body go limp, and he ran even faster.

******************************************

Charlie practically ran into doors on his way into the FBI building.

Charlie ran into the office.

"COLBY…COLBY…THEY…"

Don was the first one over.

"Whoa Chuck, what's the matter! Charlie what happened! Are you hurt??"

By this time the rest of the team, including David had come to see what the commotion was about.

"No! Fine! BUT COLBY! Agent Martin…Agent Ross…" Charlie was trying to breathe but it was becoming increasingly difficult.

David felt his stomach turn at the mention of those two names and Colby's in the same sentence. It was David who spoke up this time.

"Charlie! Charlie! What about them?"

"They…they took him…they took Colby…"

The entire team stood there in shock.

"Chuck what do you mean they took him?"

"They took him!" Charlie yelled. Why wasn't Don getting this!

"I think they were waiting for him! And they hit him, they hit him with a bat and took him!"

David froze. His heart started to beat faster than he ever thought possible, and everything seemed to shatter around him. He knew the rest of his team was still talking to Charlie but it was all a blur, they all sounded like distant voices. All he could think about was that he had walked Colby right into a trap…into the hands of those agents…no not agents…those bastards…they had just taken his bestfriend…and it was all his fault...

**TBC...**


	3. If only

**Here's the next chapter guys! So I know it's super short but I figured I'd give you something to read lol. The next part will hopefully be up either tomorrow or in a few days. **

Colby slowly started make his way back to the land of the conscious. The first thing he realized was how dark it was. Why was it so dark? It took him awhile to realise that his eyes were closed_._ But why were his eyes closed, and why the hell was his head pounding. Colby slowly started to peer his eyes open. The first thing he noticed was that he was in some sort of basement, the second thing he noticed was that his hands were cuffed to the chair and his feet were tied with rope. Then it all started coming back to him in quick flashes…lancer, the hospital, being back in the office…David…saying goodbye to his team, walking to his car, seeing Agent Martin and Agent Ross, Charlie coming after him to give him back Wooly, telling Charlie to run, tackling Agent Ross, and then…well then waking up tied to a chair with a massive headache.

There seemed to be nobody around and he tried to keep his eyes open but he slowly faded back into oblivion.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

David didn't even remember walking out to the parking lot, but there he was, with his team, looking at Colby's belongings scattered all over the pavement.

"David, David look man I know this is tough but we have to see what clues they may have left behind," said Don looking worriedly at David.

"Huh…oh…yea…yea, I'll go check by his car," David replied not making eye contact with Don.

As David made his way over to Colby's car the only thing he could think about was how this was his fault. How if he hadn't asked Colby to leave, Martin and Ross wouldn't have known Colby was leaving, and wouldn't have waited for him in the parking lot. He had walked his own partner into a damn trap.

As David reached Colby's car he noticed a set of footprints beside the car, obviously they were Martin's or Ross's.

The team cased off the parking lot and did what they could to find any evidence. There really was no need since they knew who took Colby, but still, it was protocol.

After they did a thorough search of the parking lot they had decided to go take a look at the video surveillance tape.

******************************************

As they walked back into the office, Don was shouting out commands to some agents to grab the video surveillance. Unfortunately, since Colby was leaving the office he didn't have his gps embedded cell phone any more, and he definitely didn't have a weapon on him.

As they walked into the conference room Megan walked over to David and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"We're going to get him back David," she said reassuringly.

All David could muster up was a fake smile and nod.

As they watched the video surveillance they saw exactly what had happened. They saw Colby walking to his car with his box of stuff, they saw Agent Martin and Agent Ross step out of the black SUV…

"Wait, Liz focus in on the SUV…that doesn't look like one of ours," commented Don as he walked up to the screen to take a closer look.

"That cause it's not," replied David. "It's missing the antenna that every FBI SUV has."

"Yea…yea…you're right David, Liz do a close up of the license plate."

"Okay Don"

Liz did a close up on the license plate and the image reflected back a HT 5683.

"I'll go run that through the database," replied Liz as she rushed off.

The rest of the team remained where they were and watched the rest of the surveillance video. They saw Charlie approaching, and they saw Colby turn towards Charlie.

"This is when he told me to run," explained Charlie with a quiet voice.

Don saw the guilt on his younger brother's face and placed an arm on Charlie's shoulder.

"It's okay Chuck, you did the right thing, there was no point both of you getting taken, I mean Colby wasn't even carrying and these guys clearly had weapons, you did good Chuck," Don smiled at Charlie.

Charlie nodded back at Don but it still didn't make him feel any better.

They watched the rest of the tape, Charlie running at the same time that Colby was attacked by Martin, and then Ross almost catching up with Charlie but Colby tackling him down first.

David couldn't help but smile a bit, Colby always did love tackling down suspects, but his smile was quickly replaced with a flinch and a grimace as he saw the bat connecting with the back of Colby's head and Colby going limp.

They then saw Martin and Ross throwing Colby into the back of the SUV and taking off in the northern direction.

Megan stopped the surveillance camera there because that's all they caught. Once they exited the parking lot there was no way they could have surveillance on them.

The entire team just stood in there places without saying a word. David couldn't move, he felt glued to his spot. If only he had gone after Colby, at least to say bye, like he had thought about doing but hadn't done because of his damn pride; if only he had never asked Colby to leave in the first place…if only…he had too many if only's.

David's thoughts were cut off by Liz walking into the room.

"Liz what you find out?" questioned Megan.

"Well the SUV was definitely stolen, the dealership reported it stolen 5 hours ago."

"What are two federal agents doing stealing an SUV, and why the hell were they after Colby?" questioned Megan.

"Well their supervisor is headed over here in a few minutes, he's apparently in the neighbourhood and wanted to talk to us in person and all together," finished Liz.

Everyone was quiet for a minute and then...

"I think something happened between them," replied David quietly.

Everyone, surprised by David's comment, turned to him.

"What do you mean?" questioned Don.

"When they uh, when they were here the last two times, I got this strange vibe off them. Martin kept starring at Colby for one, and Colby…I dunno he almost looked…scared of them."

Megan knew never to take anything David said lightly, especially when it concerned someone David cared about, so she knew that he wasn't looking into things, that he was probably right on the money.

"And did you notice the way he asked Colby about the position at DC, if he got it cuz he was some sort of hero?" David continued.

"So what…you think they were somehow apart of the whole Chinese fiasco?" questioned Don.

"Maybe they're with the Chinese," Liz responded. "Maybe they weren't too thrilled that Colby was a traitor in their eyes."

Don considered this for a second.

"All possible ideas. Anyways, we'll know in a few minutes when the agents' boss gets here," replied Don.

"They're not agents," piked up David.

"What?" questioned Don.

"Agents don't kidnap other agents…don't call them agents," replied David with a deathly tone.

Don knew better than to say anything to that, he knew what David was going through…well not exactly…but he could imagine. If Charlie was ever kidnapped…well that was something he really didn't want to even imagine. For all purposes, Colby and David were brothers, despite everything that has happened, despite David being so angry he knew that David still thought of Colby as a brother. Don could see how much this was weighing on David so he just shook his head in agreement.

****************************************************************************

Martin and Ross's supervisor arrived just as expected. Don walked him into the conference room where everyone was seated.

"So what do you have for us Agent Ling?" questioned Don.

Agent Ling took his time shaking hands with the team. He then moved to the front of the room.

"I'm afraid you guys aren't going to like this," Agent Ling began.

David didn't like the sound of this.

"Agent Ross and Agent Martin are no longer Agents…they were relieved of their duties over a month ago."

The entire room was silent.

"What do you mean relieved of their duties?" questioned Megan.

"Yea they just worked a case with us!" Don exclaimed.

"Yea we actually just saw your case record for that, even if Colby hadn't been taken, we were going to come talk to you about that."

"Hold on, I was given confirmation from your office that they were agents, that they still worked for the bureau," Don defended.

"That's correct Agent Eppes, you were, but you were given confirmation by an agent who was being bought off by the two. Consequently this agent has been let go as well. You did everything right, considering it was them that approached you and not the other way around, they were just one step ahead of you."

"What the hell!" David exclaimed. "How the hell did they get away with this!"

"They're resourceful Agent Sinclair, they were awaiting trial in a federal prison in LA and escaped a week ago."

"What!" It was Don's turn to be irate. "Two ex-federal agents escaped from prison and we weren't notified?"

"It was all to be kept secret Agent Eppes. I mean, granted if they had assisted you more in the kidnapping case, it would have been brought to our attention sooner and you would have been notified, but because they just consulted on the case it wasn't brought to our attention as quickly. I know you guys don't understand right now but my orders come from a higher source. None of this information was to be leaked. We had our reasons and we had our guys tracking them down."

"Bang up job on that!" exclaimed Don as he paced past Agent Ling.

Megan knew that she would have to be the cool headed one from now on, Don was already worked up and David…well David's best friend was just kidnapped and when David was upset his temper seemed to get the best of him.

"Agent Ling, what were they being held for?"

Agent Ling took a deep breath, if Agent Granger's team was angry before, they were going to be furious now.

"Torturing a federal agent."

The entire team stood wide eyed at Agent Ling.

Megan knew she didn't have to ask but they needed to know for sure…

"Agent Ling…torturing of which federal agent?"

Agent Ling took another deep breath, not knowing what their next reactions would be and in all honesty not wanting to find out.

David felt a not at the pit of his stomach, he really didn't want to know the answer to that question, he really didn't want to know, he really didn't want to…

"Agent Colby Granger"

**TBC....**


	4. Agent brutality

**Hey guys! Here's another short chapter. The next will be longer i promise, but it might take a few days to put up. I just wanted to get this chapter up because it explains what happened to Colby and why. Enjoy :)**

Colby was abruptly brought back from oblivion when he felt a bucket of ice cold water hit his face. It took him a second to get over the shock of the freezing cold water, and then another few seconds to get his eyes open. Luckily it wasn't really bright in the room so his eyes didn't have to adjust to sudden light.

As his eyes opened Colby immediately noticed Agent Martin and Agent Ross standing in front of him with a smug look on their face.

"Morning sunshine!" Agent Martin yelled as he punched Colby in the face.

Colby's head snapped back and he bit down on his lip to keep from letting any sound come out. The last thing he wanted to do was give these guys pleasure in his pain, although if last time was any indication they would be doing that regardless.

"Did you miss us?" mocked Agent Ross. "Because we sure missed you Colby."

It was Agent Ross's turn to take a punch at Colby's face.

Colby's head snapped back again, and immediately fell to his chest biting down on his lip again. As Colby brought his head back up to face the two agents he knew he couldn't show any weakness, even though every bone in his body was telling him not to provoke them. Pride eventually won over logic.

"Well I could've gone the rest of my life without seeing your ugly faces again, but here I am," remarked Colby.

Agent Martin's grin disappeared.

"Always the smart mouth Granger, didn't your momma every teach you to keep your trap shut!"

"No, my momma taught me not to be in the company of psychopathic nutcases, but yet again, here I am," Colby smiled back. He knew he was so screwed, Agent Martin looked like he was ready to kill someone…namely Colby.

Agent Martin whipped the gun from his waistband and pointed it between Colby's eyes.

"What do you have to say now tough guy! I'm gonna put a bullet right through you're friggin eyes!"

"Martin! Martin stop!" yelled Agent Ross as he grabbed onto the gun. "We risked too much to get our revenge on him, we're not killing him…"

He then turned to look at Colby.

"Well…at least not until we've had some fun with our favourite double agent," remarked Agent Ross as Agent Martin moved the gun away from Colby's face.

Colby knew he was screwed, these idiots still thought he was a double agent and all he could think about was the last time these two had had some "fun" with him. But he couldn't show any fear…he wouldn't…his team would find him…eventually…although Colby wasn't sure how much of him will be left to find this time.

Colby quickly shook that idea out of his head, he wasn't going to do this, he was stronger than this, he'd endured their torture once, he could surely do it again. At least this time people would be looking for him.

All of a sudden Colby felt the butt of the gun hit his head and he fell back into a dark abyss.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Everyone's fear was confirmed when Agent Ling named the agent.

No one on the team felt like they could speak. Colby had been tortured and none of them even knew about it? How the hell was that possible?

Well David knew how it was possible. When exactly would Colby have told them – while he was being ignored or while he was being accused of being a horrible friend? David knew that if Colby was going to tell anyone about the torture it would've been him, but he wasn't exactly receptive to Colby's attempts at conversation, and now because of it…god, how could he have failed Colby twice…

Liz, seeing the agony on here teams face, decided to ask the hard questions, the questions they all needed answers to in order to know what they were dealing with.

"Agent, Ling…how…"

Agent Ling didn't need her to continue, he knew what he needed to tell them the whole story.

"You guys might want to be seated for this," he began knowing how hard this would be to hear.

"While Agent Granger was being held for being a double agent, we had federal agents posted at his and Carter's prison cells every night, for extra security. I mean we believed these two were high threat risks so we took all precautions. So anyway, Agent Martin and Agent Ross were posted at Agent Granger's cell every night. The two of them were two of our best agents, the other two were posted at Carter's cell. These agents were also in charge of interrogation, trying to pry as much information our of Agent Granger and Carter as possible. During interrogation we noticed that Agent Martin and Agent Ross were crossing that fine line between interrogation and well…physical abuse, so we pulled them from interrogation."

"But you kept them posted at his cell?" David questioned with a deathly tone.

"We had no reason to believe they would do anything Agent Sinclair. They were good agents, respectable agents…"

"Respectable agents! You tell me that they tortured my partner and then tell me that they're "respectable agents! How the hell does that work!" David yelled.

"David!" Don looked over at David. "I know this is hard, but we have to hear the whole story okay."

David looked away shaking his head, he was so damn close to breaking something in this room.

"As I was saying…they WERE respectable agents Agent Sinclair, not that they are now. They had no prior misconduct and we figured they were bound to get a little heated about agents who betray their country, so we overlooked their slip up in interrogation. You can't tell me that you have never slipped up during interrogation and almost crossed that fine line."

The whole team was quiet, they knew all two well how easy it was to lose your cool during interrogation. Agent Ling took their silence as understanding and moved on.

"So Martin and Ross were placed back on night duty to guard his cell. The first week was okay, but sometime during the second week they had started going into Agent Granger's cell at night and…well…they'd beat him pretty badly."

David swallowed the big lump that had formed in his throat. He really didn't want to be hearing this right now but Agent Ling continued.

"I guess it started off as beatings and it progressed. Somewhere down the line they started taking in tasers with them and well…I don't think I need to tell you what they did," Agent Ling said as he looked around the room. He felt bad for this team, he knew what they had gone through over the past month and half, thinking one of their own was a traitor, only to find out he was actually a hero but had been spying on them for two years…and now this. He definitely didn't envy them.

"How were they allowed tasers in there?" Liz questioned. "And how were they even allowed to get away with doing that to Colby, surely someone heard what was going on, or at least saw the evidence on Colby"

"Well when it comes to someone who is meant to protect a country betraying that country, prison officials tend to look the other way when they believe the prisoner is getting his just desserts."

Agent Ling saw David's eyes immediately shoot up to him.

"Not that I'm condoning in," Agent Ling added in quickly. "And those officials have been released from duty as well, no prisoner deserves to be tortured like that, not even someone accused of betraying their country."

"When did you guys figure out what was going on," Don spoke up quietly.

"About 2 weeks after it began."

_Two weeks…tasers...o god...Colby was tortured for 2 weeks…David felt like he was going to be sick._

"One of the inmates had mentioned something to their lawyer who came to us. Up until that point no one had mentioned anything so we weren't in the know, but the minute we were told we looked into it and put an end to it. We figured out what Martin and Ross were doing and they were taken into custody immediately, and Agent Granger was given immediate medical attention."

"How bad…" Megan couldn't even finish that question.

Agent Ling looked at her and then at the other agents.

"It's probably best you don't know," he said sympathetically.

That definitely wasn't what any of them wanted to hear. Don was really starting to wonder how much more of this his team could take. Had they not dealt with enough shit, gone through enough shit?

*******************************************

Agent Ling hung around for a little longer and once he left everyone sort of stayed in the conference room, too shocked to move. David thought that if he moved he might actually puke so he stayed put.

Don knew he had to take charge, this was his team, and despite Colby transferring he still felt like Colby was his agent.

"Guys…look," he scratched his head. "I know this isn't going to be easy, but we're gonna get Colby back. We've been through stuff like this before, I mean we got Megan back safe didn't we?"

"She wasn't being held by two psychopaths hell bent on revenge against her," replied David.

Don knew the frustration David was feeling, because he was feeling it too, as was the entire team, but he also knew the truth behind David's words.

"We're gonna get him back David. And I know we can't look at this like any other case but we gotta try. We have to start working, start looking for clues, anything that will lead us to Colby."

Right on cue Charlie walks into the room.

"I think I've got somewhere to start!"

Charlie started putting up his posters of areas where Martin and Ross were most familiar with so might be holding Colby. The team started to call around and try to find out as much as possible.

About an hour after making calls and doing research, a package was delivered addressed to the team. They received several packages in a day so no one really though much of it, until they opened it up; it was a digital video disc that read "play me".

The team all went into the conference room and put the disc in. At first it was just really dark, no one could really make anything out. Then the light started to get a little brighter and they could see that it was a taping of a basement.

"What the hell, is this some kinda prank?" Liz began.

A few seconds later everyone realized that this was the farthest thing from a prank. As the image adapted to the light it started to clear and a prone figure could be seen slumped in a chair with their hands cuffed and feet tied.

Megan gasped and David felt his heart starting to beat faster, he felt like the entire room was closing in on him…

"Colby…"

**TBC.....**


	5. Three in One

**I'm backk!! ahha sorry about the delay! I've had midterms the past 2 weeks at my university so I was cramming like mad and didn't have time to write more of the story. BUT...they're done so here's the next chapter! Enjoy! :)**

The entire team stood there as if they were in a trance. Colby was right there, they were starring right at him but they had no idea where he was. Everyone's expressions were solemn; Megan and Liz looked horrified, Charlie looked like a deer caught in headlights, Don looked worried, and David…David looked down right scared.

No one said a word as the recording continued. The camera was immediately moved to a position that gave the agents a good look at Colby, and much to their dismay they knew they would be seeing every little thing that was about to happen.

They watched as the bucket of water was thrown on Colby, they watched as Colby slowly climbed his way back from oblivion and they watched as the agents took their turns hitting Colby.

"_Did you miss us? Because we sure missed you Colby."_

David winced as he saw the second punch connect with his partner's face. He knew he'd have to brace himself for more because he knew Colby wouldn't give these guys the satisfaction of hurting him, he knew Colby was going to be a smart-ass. But in all honesty he couldn't blame him, that was one thing him and his partner had in common, they showed no fear in the face of enemies…it often got them beaten to shit but they would never give in. It was something he admired and hated about Colby; admired because Colby was probably the bravest person he had ever met, and hated because…well because Colby often got injured because of it, and no one likes to see their best friend hurt.

"_Well I could've gone the rest of my life without seeing your ugly faces again, but here I am."_

And there it was, David slowly shook his head. Don shook his head too; he was thinking exactly what David was thinking.

"_Always the smart mouth Granger, didn't your momma every teach you to keep your trap shut!"_

"_No, my momma taught me not to be in the company of psychopathic nutcases, but yet again, here I am."_

Everyone caught Colby's smile as he said those words. His smile was contagious, David couldn't help but smile a little at his partner's words; he had to hand it to Colby, the guy sure did know how to piss the enemies off. His smile however was quickly wiped off his face and his whole body tensed as he saw Martin whip out his .45 and point it between Colby's eyes.

"_What do you have to say now tough guy! I'm gonna put a bullet right through you're friggin eyes!"_

The entire team stood frozen, wide eyed and scared; these guys were crazy there was no telling if they would put a bullet in Colby's head and be over with it.

"_Martin! Martin stop! We risked too much to get our revenge on him, we're not killing him…"_

Everyone let out the breath they didn't know they were holding.

"_Well…at least not until we've had some fun with our favourite double agent."_

Wait a minute…double agent?

"Oh god, they still think he works for the Chinese," Megan looked around at her team.

Colby was out cold a couple seconds later when the butt of the gun connected with his head. And as Colby went unconscious, Ross walked over to the tape and the screen went blank.

Everyone sat around for a few minutes processing what they had just seen and heard. Although things were looking bleak, Colby was still alive, and that was all that mattered at the moment.

"He's still alive, we go on that," Don said as he stood up from his chair. "Megan call Agent Ling, tell him to get down here, he needs to see this."

Megan rushed out of the room to make the call as Liz and Charlie headed out of the conference room.

Don was following right behind them when he saw that David hadn't moved. David's eyes were fixed on a spot on the floor.

"Colby's strong David, he's been through worse," Don placed a hand on David's shoulder. "We're gonna get him back, because I know that _you,_ you're gonna make sure that we get him back."

Don knew that this was the only way to get through to David when he was like this. He wasn't trying to put pressure on David but he knew that David needed an objective; he needed something to distract him from the sheer terror from the possibility of losing his best friend.

Don waited a few seconds to see if he would get a reaction out of David. When no such reaction came Don squeezed his shoulder supportively and stood up and started walking towards the door.

"Damn straight I will"

Don looked over his shoulder and smiled, yeah, David was on board, it won't be easy, but they'd get Colby back.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Colby woke up alone this time, which he was actually grateful for; it was a lot better than waking up to a bucket of freezing cold water and two very pissed off agents.

Colby took the time to look around the place (well as much as he could look being tied up and all). The basement had no windows, and one door. _Great so I'll just suffocate to death before they torture me. _Torture. That word made all thoughts in his head stop. He remembered the last time they tortured him…two weeks straight, that was by far the worst two weeks of his life; although it was quite comparable with his team's interrogation after the Janus list outted him as a double agent, but that was more of an emotional hell than a physical one; but nonetheless, those two weeks were far worse than what Lancer had done to him.

Colby realized that this was because he knew while he was being tortured in prison that no one was going to help him, that no one was on his side, he was completely alone. At least with Lancer he knew that his team was most likely going to come for him. Those two weeks in prison, the way they had beat him…_Snap out of it Granger! This is not the time to reminisce._

Colby tried to move his hands to see if he could get the cuffs lose. He knew it really wasn't worth it, it wasn't like rope, he'd need the keys to get out of these cuffs. He then felt the rope around his ankles and tried to loosen that; once again to no avail. He looked around for anything, anything he could use. Maybe a pin on the floor or…well really a pin on the floor, it's not like these guy would leave a knife lying around. _Think Colby think!_

Well he figured he could always tip the chair until it fell hoping that it would break the chair...but then again if it didn't break it would really suck to be in that position on the ground when Martin and Ross walked back in.

Colby was dead out of ideas, and the massive headache he had wasn't helping. He'd have to find some way out of here, or hope that his team gets to him in time. At least this time they were on his side, at least this time they'd be looking for him.

Colby thought back to what had happened at the parking lot. He remembered tackling down Ross so that Charlie could escape; he was really happy about that, he knew Don must be happy about that too.

He tried to think about what happened after, but it was a complete blank. He figured it was thanks to whatever caused the massive headache he had.

Colby started to look around again to see if there were any clues at all about where he may be, when he heard the only door in this room open.

"Well look who woke up on his own this time," Agent Martin walked in as Agent Ross closed the door.

Colby's eyes immediately shot to the object in Agent Martin's hand…a bat.

_Shit I'm so screwed!_

"So Granger, now that you're up we decided that you were gonna answer some questions for us," Agent Martin walked over with the bat and stood directly in front of Colby.

"And what if I decide not to answer?" Colby couldn't help himself, he knew he really should shut up, but he just couldn't.

Colby received his answer when the bat connected hard with his mid section. The wind was knocked out of him as his whole body shook from the impact. Thankfully he didn't hear anything crack, so for the time being he was just in a whole lot of pain, but at least no broken ribs.

"That's what, if you decide not to answer," Martin brought the bat to his side again.

"Well then," Colby was trying to get his breath back. "Ask away"

"Why the hell did you betray your country!" Ross came and stood right beside Martin.

"I didn…" Colby didn't even get a chance to finish his sentence before the bat connected with his mid section again. Colby bent forward in pain as everything started to get fuzzy.

"DON'T LIE TO US GRANGER! WE KNOW YOU DID!" Martin was irate, he wasn't going to take no for an answer.

Colby started to breathe in quick successions to try and ease the pain.

"A-sk y-your supervis-or, trip-le ag-agent" Colby was finding it really hard to breathe.

"Triple agent…" Ross honestly sounded shocked.

"You lying son of a…" Colby braced himself for another attack when Ross stopped the bat.

Colby started to find it a little easier to breathe and he looked up at the two men in front of him.

"Why…why else…would I be out of prison?" Colby dared them both to come up with an explanation.

Martin stood there studying Colby for a second.

"Because you conned your way out, that's why!"

"Yeah and made us lose our jobs and landed us in prison at the same time!" any questioning Ross may have had of the triple agent theory was gone just like that as he remembered his time in prison.

Colby starred up at them in honest shock.

"Prison? You…you guys were in prison?"

"Oh don't act like you didn't know! Apparently torturing you wasn't allowed…even though you're a filthy traitor!"

Colby looked away for a second to process everything he had just heard. _They had actually put these two in prison for torturing me? _This whole time Colby had thought that they had gotten away with it because he had heard of nothing about them being in prison. He figured the FBI section higher up simply just turned their heads the other way to protect two of their own. Boy was he wrong!

As happy as Colby was that they hadn't gotten away with what they did, he knew that this was going to fuel their anger, and now he knew he was more screwed than ever.

"You know what! Screw this! Why are we even talking to him? We got him where we want him, now let's finish what we started in that prison cell!"

Colby landed hard on his left side as his chair was kicked down by Ross. The next thing he registered was a boot successively kicking him in the mid section where the bat had previously left its mark. Colby curled up in a fetal position to protect himself as best as he could, but it was hard to do with him being tied to the chair still. He felt the bat hit him on his arm and his leg repeatedly. Colby felt like he was going to puke as pain kept soaring through his arms, legs, and midsection. He was finding it hard to breathe again and was relieved when he felt his consciousness slipping away.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Agent Ling was in the conference room with Don watching the video that Martin and Ross had sent. No one else from the team wanted to have to watch that video again so they opted to stay outside till it was over.

Over to the left side of the room David stood a few feet from his desk, starring into the conference room at Agent Ling. David was fuming, how could they have not informed the team that these two psychopaths were out of prison.

David's thoughts were interrupted by Don sticking his head out of the conference room and calling them over.

Liz, Megan, and David walked back into the conference room.

"First off I'm sorry you guys had to see this, I know it must have been hard to watch. But with that said this is more reason for us to be very careful about this rescue. We can't treat this like any other kidnapping case, these two are trained in combat, interrogation, sniper shooting, and the list goes on."

David really didn't need to hear this. He knew they had to be careful, he knew these guys were psychopaths.

"If they think we're even close to getting to Colby they won't hesitate to kill him, I have no doubt about that."

That was it, that was what pushed David over the edge.

"So knowing all this, knowing how psychotic they were, you didn't even think to let us know when they got out of prison?" David's voice was louder than Don would have liked.

"David," Don stood up a little straighter in his seat. He knew things were about to get ugly in the room.

"You didn't bother to think that we would need to know, that COLBY would need to know?"

"We had no reason to believe they would go after Agent Granger"

"NO REASON TO…wow!…these guys torture Colby in prison, don't get to finish what they started, get put in prison BECAUSE they tortured Colby, and you're honestly gonna stand there and tell me with a straight face that you didn't think they'd come after Colby!"

Don wanted to step in, tell David to take a breather outside but in reality David was expressing what everyone else was feeling.

"We didn't think they would risk their freedom by going after a federal agent, we thought they'd hide out somewhere, try and get new identities"

Everyone could tell Agent Ling was trying to stand his ground but he looked a little, intimated, for the lack of a better word. David seemed to have that affect on people when he was pissed off or annoyed or worried…and right now he was all three.

"You can't be serious! They knew what they were risking when they entered Colby's cell every night to…" David stood from where he was leaning on the cupboard. He had to get out of the room before he said something he'd regret. As he walked towards the door he paused right in front of Agent Ling.

"You SHOULD have told us!" he grinded through his teeth. David grabbed the door open and walked out without so much as a second look.

Don watched the door close and wiped a hand over his face. He knew he better get used to this because things around here were going to be hostile until they got Colby back.

Don took a deep breath, "I'm sorry about that…but he's right you know, you should've told us, you risked our agent's life by not telling us."

Agent Ling shook his head.

"It wasn't my call to make Agent Eppes"

Don didn't say anything to that, he knew how politics worked within the FBI, and he didn't want to place blame on someone who didn't deserve it. "Yeah," Don shook his head as he sat back down. "So where do we go from here?"

"Well we'll see what your brother comes up with in regards to specific locations they may have taken Agent Granger, and I'll see what my guys come up with as well. We'll go from there."

*******************************

David stood outside starring over the railings outside the FBI office. This whole situation was a little too hard to digest, and he knew it was only going to get worse from here. He didn't really mean to snap at Agent Ling…okay well maybe he did, but he wished he had been more professional about it. He knew that he was right in being pissed at Agent Ling, but he also realized that a lot of the anger was misdirected anger. He was angry with himself. He was angry at the way he had been treating Colby the past few weeks, and he was angry with the way he had treated Colby right before he left. It sucked that it took a situation like this for him to swallow his pride and admit he was in the wrong. This guilt was consuming him, it was all he could think about; well that and the fact that Colby was in the hands of two deadly psychopaths. He kept running over their conversation right before Colby left:

"_So uh…I just wanted to come in and uh…say bye." _

"_Come on man! You're seriously not gonna talk to me? Not even to say bye?_

"_David! Come on man! We were best friends for 2 years! Look at me!"_

"_Don't kid yourself Granger, we weren't best friends for 2 years…"_

"_Look, I just…I don't want to fight with you David. I'm sorry for everything that happened, I'm sorry I lied to you, I'm sorry that I hurt you, I'm just…sorry."_

"…_you were truly the best partner I've ever had, and the best, bestfriend." _

"_If I had to do it all over again, spy on you guys all over again…I would tell you what my mission was, I wouldn't tell anyone else, but I'd tell you…protocols be damned."_

Colby had tried to make amends, he just wouldn't let him.

David knew this wasn't helping, he knew this wouldn't speed up the process of finding Colby, but he was a mess. He needed to deal with this and fast. Just then someone came and planted themselves right beside him.

"Hey," Megan smiled as her shoulder touched his.

"Hey" David tried his best to give her a smile.

"So uh you wanna tell me what's going on in that head of yours?" Megan wasn't looking directly at him, instead she was just starring straight.

"_Smart girl," thought David._

Megan knew that if she had any chance of David opening up she couldn't look at him. She knew how David felt about this mushy stuff. David kept quiet for awhile, he was thinking about not saying anything, about keeping it to himself, but that hadn't been working so well so far.

"I…I dunno"

"_Well that's a start" thought Megan. _

They were both quiet for a few seconds.

"I messed up Megan" David spoke solemnly.

Megan gave him time to keep going.

"I messed up badly. I've been treating Colby like crap every since he got out of the hospital. I just…I was just so mad at him…I mean two years! We were best friends for two years and he had been lying the entire time. And I know he was just doing his job, I get that, it's just…"

"It's just you feel like you've been betrayed, that your friendship didn't meant anything if he could lie for that long" Megan finally looked at David showing she understood what he was going through.

"Yea…" David looked back out over the railing.

"David, I get you're mad, you have every reason to be, but I mean imagine how hard it must have been for Colby to have to lie to us, to you, for two years. You're practically his brother, everyone knows that, it couldn't have been easy for him to lie all these years. But he had a job to do, and Colby comes from a family of soldiers, they don't know how to say no to orders," Megan smiled as she said this last part.

David took a second to let Megan's words sink in. This whole time he had been too angry to even wonder what it must have been like for Colby these past two years, having to lie to your team, worrying that one day your secret may come out. That would be a shitty way to live.

David took a deep breath.

"This is so messed up" David shook his head.

"Don't be too hard on yourself David, you're not in the wrong for feeling angry and hurt, none of this is your fault," Megan placed a reassuring hand on David's shoulder.

"_That's where you're wrong," thought David._

He couldn't bring himself to tell her that it _was_ indeed his fault, that it was because he had asked Colby to leave that Colby was alone in that parkade, unarmed.

So much for talking, this conversation ended up just making him feel even guiltier than he felt before.

*****3 DAYS LATER*****

Everyone was on edge. They hadn't heard back from Colby's captors since the last video message, and that had been three days ago! Everyone started to think that maybe the first tape was going to be the only one, that it was just something to get the time riled up.

They were testing all their sources but coming up with dead ends everywhere.

It didn't mean that they would quit though. Charlie was in the conference room working on a math configuration to see if the footage from the video camera could map out where their end destination was, Don was on the phone with detectives who were doing a ground search around the area, Megan and Liz were speaking to old acquaintances, colleagues, family, pretty much any one who had contact with the agents before they were sent to prison, and David…well David was teamed up with Megan interviewing the acquaintances until he had snapped at one of them for sticking up for Martin, so now David was going over the tape with the tech guys downstairs to see if they could get anything off it to pinpoint them in Colby's way. This wasn't exactly the job David wanted to be doing, especially since he had to see Colby with those two, but he couldn't do nothing.

"These guys are good! There's not a trace of a clue on these tapes"

David didn't like the awe and admiration he heard in the tech guy's voice.

"These _guys _are not good! And they have my partner so I suggest you look over this tape again!

"But we've looked over them two ti…"

David's phone started ringing and he flipped it open, he was sort of glad for the interruption because he was just about to lose it on the tech guy.

"Sinclair…yea…yea…okay I'm on my way up" David hung up the phone as he stood up and looked down at the tech guy.

"Keep watching until you find something! I'll be back" he pointed his finger at the tech guy to show that he was dead serious about this.

It was safe to say that David has been a lot of people's least favourite person the past few days.

As he rushed to the office floor, almost running over a few people in the process, he was eager to know what Don had. Maybe they had found some information on where Colby was being held.

David abruptly opened the office doors.

"Did you guys find something?"

All he got in reply was Don holding up…shit…another recording.

They all filed into the conference room.

Everyone was a little more on edge than last time. They had had Colby for 3 days now…

They put the dvd in.

"_Well look who woke up on his own this time,"_

David's eye's were immediately drawn to the bat in Martin's hands. _Shit._

"_So Granger, now that you're up we decided that you were gonna answer some questions for us,"_

David tensed as he saw Martin stand directly in front of Colby with the bat. _Granger just shutup and don't say anything to piss these guys off! _

"_And what if I decide not to answer?"_

Damnit Colby! David was always proud of the way Colby showed no fear, but at times like these he really wanted to smack some sense into his partner.

The whole team winced as the bat connected with Colby's midsection.

"Son of a bitch!" Don was sitting a little straighter in his chair.

"_Why the hell did you betray your country!"_

"_I didn…"_ Colby started

They watched as the bat connected with Colby's mid section again.

"_DON'T LIE TO US GRANGER! WE KNOW YOU DID!"_

This particular episode went on for a few more minutes and ended with the team having to look away as they repeatedly kicked and beat Colby with the bat until he went unconscious.

David was starring at the ground…this clip was far worse than the first one…and he was terrified to see what the next one would look like.

Unfortunately for David, he didn't have to wait long. As Don got up to turn it off, another clip started up. Colby was back on the chair tied down, the same as before, except this time he was black and blue from the previous beating.

"They…they put more than one day of this on the dvd…" Megan felt sick.

"_Well well looks who's conscious!" Martin walked over and smacked Colby's head._

_Colby smirked at the two ex-agents even though he could barely open his left eye due to the swelling._

"_So we're going to skip all the preliminary shit and get straight to beating the crap out of you!"_

_Martin and Ross took turns punching and kicking Colby. Colby held the pain in well for the most part, not letting out a grunt or a yell of pain, until they didn't let up. By the 5 minute mark Colby was in so much pain that he passed out._

David's eyes were wide and his heart was racing. He never thought he'd have to witness someone being tortured, let alone his best friend. Before anyone could think anything else the next clip came on.

"Oh god, they have the last three days on this tape," Liz looked like she was going to be sick too.

_Colby was not in the chair like he normally was. This time his hands were tied above his head with the rope connected to the rafters above him in the room. His feet were still tied at the bottom, elongating his body._

_Martin and Ross walked in with a whip in each of their hands._

_Colby was awake and conscious enough to know what was about to happen. He took a deep breath, he had no idea what it felt like to be whipped but he could only imagine. He wouldn't show any fear though, he'd never show these guys any fear. _

_Colby took a deep breath as Ross made his way behind Colby. Martin was standing right in front of him with a smirk on his face._

"_Now this…this is something we couldn't try at the prison because it wouldn't attracted to much attention…but out here, where no one can see or hear you, there are no such restrictions."_

_Colby cried out as the whip connected with his back. This was bad…really…really bad._

_Ross took about 10 whips at Colby, eliciting a scream out of the young agent each time. Colby tried to hold his tongue but he couldn't control it._

_Martin took his turn afterwards. He whipped Colby 15 times._

The entire team looked on horrified.

_After Martin was done they simply just left the room and left Colby there panting in pain._

_Colby was trying to get his breathing under control, his back was killing him._

The tape ended as Colby was trying to breathe through the pain.

No one said anything.

No one knew what to say.

"I…" Don tried to find something to say…anything to say to his team.

David couldn't take his eyes off the black screen. They whipped…he needed to get out of this room.

David got off the desk and stormed out of the room.


	6. Mescaline

**Hey guys, sorry about the delay yet again lol I'm afraid it will be like this for awhile because school's really busy right now. I felt bad that I've made you guys wait so long so I was going to post this chapter when I had added everything I wanted in here but i decided to split it into two chapters so you guys could at least have something to read lol So this chapter is a little shorter than the last, but the next chapter should be longer:). I'll try and get the next one up before next week but I can't make any promises, so i apologise in advance :)Anywho, hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

His back felt like it was on fire.

That was the first thing Colby registered as he gained consciousness. The second thing he registered was the fact that he was not tied to a chair, or hanging from the rafters. Instead, he on the floor on his side; his hands and feet were still tied.

When Colby tried to shift his body searing hot pain laced through his entire body and he had to concentrate on his breathing to keep himself from passing out. He slowly started to remember everything that had been done to him the past few days.

Past few days…how many days had it been exactly.

Colby had no idea, he felt like he had been down there for weeks, but he knew it hadn't been that long. He couldn't know how many days though since the room he was stuck in had no windows. He didn't know when the sun rose or set.

The only hope that Colby had left was the fact that Charlie had seen Ross and Martin and knew they took Colby.

But wait…what if they had somehow taken Charlie too.

"_No, they would've taunted me with that fact if they had"_

So his only hope was that his team would somehow find him…preferably alive.

Colby's mind then jumped to another thought…he realized how dirty the floor was and how it was all dirt. Now generally this wouldn't be as big a deal but he realized with the open wounds on his back from the whippings he better stay on his side to avoid any infections.

And then Colby started thinking about his conversation with David and how they had left things. He hated how their last few conversations weren't really conversations at all, he hated how one secret (granted it was a huge secret) could ruin 2 years of friendship, and he especially hated the fact that he hadn't told David about the operation. He knew it was his fault, David hating him and all, but maybe…just maybe….this whole getting kidnapped and tortured thing would be a blessing in disguise. Maybe David will see how important their friendship is after almost losing Colby…_ "That's a horrible thought!" _Colby scolded himself for even thinking it, but hey he was entitled to hope that at least one good thing would come out of this. But then again, he did almost die on that freighter and David still hadn't forgiven him…yea that sucked out loud.

It was way too quiet in this room for Colby. His mind was in overdrive from the pain and the thinking. He tried to keep his mind off the pain and off of what had been done to him (and could possibly be done to him from now until his team found him…if his team found him). Within the next half hour his mind had gone from David to Don to how hot Liz is, to how he still thought that Megan and Fleinhart were the oddest couple…ever! That made him laugh a little, the though of Fleinhart generally had that affect on Colby, not because he was fun to laugh at, but just because Fleinhart was quite the character. He was definitely an interesting individual.

Colby then started to think about all the crazy things him and David had done as partners. All the pranks they had pulled on each other, pulled on the team, their conversations during stakeouts, and the list went on and on.

Then Colby started to think about Ian Edgerton. How he had idolized him while in the army and how he had finally met him and had even gotten to work with him.

As Colby was about to jump onto another topic he recognized the creak of the door and saw two sets of feet walk in. _"Here we go again"_

"How's the back Granger," Martin laughed as he closed the door behind him and Ross.

"Peachy," Colby braced himself for a kick to the midsection, or a kick to the head, neither of which came.

The next thing Colby registered was being yanked into a sitting position with Ross holding him upright.

All the blood rushed to Colby's head and he had to close his eyes to allow the dizziness, from the sudden vertigo, to disappear.

Once Colby opened his eyes he froze at what he saw in front of him.

Martin was standing there with a syringe in his hand and a little bottle of liquid; a sudden dread of déjà vu hit him.

Colby's heart started to beat faster as he realized what was about to happen. He was going to be drugged up…again.

Martin couldn't help but smile at the look of fear on Colby's face.

"You remember Lancer right?" he jibed at Colby.

"How do you…"

"I know everything! I thought you would have figured that out by now! You see…although Lancer was a traitor just like yourself, the man did know a thing or two about torture."

Martin put the needle into the liquid filled tube and extracted the liquid.

"However, I know a little more than him. This here," Martin held up the syringe filled with the liquid substance. "This is Mescaline. It's a torture drug, Hitler used it himself," Martin recalled proudly.

"It causes loss of sense of time and space, breathing becomes difficult, blood pressure drops, extreme disorientation, sickness, headaches, slowdown of the heart frequency, vomiting, vivid hallucinations, and insomnia after all is said and done…but don't worry…you won't have to worry about the insomnia part, you won't be around to go through the withdrawals," Agent Martin beamed of eagerness.

Colby did his best not to show the fear he was feeling inside. He thought Lancer's drugs were bad but this…he remembered hearing about Mescaline in the army, he remembered his sergeant say that it was one of the worst types of torture ever used. And now here he was, about to get the same drug injected into his veins.

Colby looked defiantly at Martin as he stuck the needle into Colby's vein. As the needle was taken out of his arm Colby was thrown back to the ground by Ross and he instantly started to feel the drugs pump through his system. This was bad…really, really bad.

Within a few minutes Colby was finding it harder to breathe and his head was pounding. Colby was trying to stay strong but it was getting harder and harder as his body was reacting to the drug. Within no time Colby had beads of sweat falling off his face and was taking in ragged breaths to even be able to breathe.

"How does it feel Granger? Worse than Lancer's huh? Lancer was an amateur…this stuff, this is the real stuff!" Martin knelt down beside Colby's shaking body.

"You know those nightmares you've been having about Lancer and that freighter_ every single night_ since it's happened, if you survive this, which you won't, but if you do…you'll be having nightmares about this for the rest of your life!"

Colby registered some of what Martin was saying, but the pain in his head and the lack of oxygen was making it really hard for him to concentrate on anything.

Martin stood up and looked down at Colby.

"Your team isn't coming for you, they hate you! You know that right? The way you're partner, David, looked at you…it's the exact same way I look at you, with disgust and hatred."

"No," Colby managed to get out that one word.

"You can deny it all you want Granger, but everyone knows how much he hates you, how he tried everything in his power to keep you in jail, how he didn't even bother giving you the benefit of the doubt when you were in prison because he knew! He knew just like I knew that you were a traitor! And what does that say about you huh? That you're best friend wouldn't even give you the benefit of the doubt? That it didn't even cross his mind that there must be an explanation? It says that you're a damn traitor! Everyone knows it! I'm sure you're team, especially David, will thank me once you're dead!"

"_No, no they wouldn't" Colby kept repeating that in his head, if nothing more than to assure himself that Martin was lying. But he was finding it really hard to sort fact from fiction right now._

Did David still think he was a traitor? No, David knew, the whole team knew…or did they…did he just imagine that they knew…had he even gotten out of jail…was he still there? This sure looked like a cell from what he could see of it.

Colby's mind was going in circles, he couldn't tell fact from fiction anymore. He knew he had just been drugged and it was messing with his mind. But he couldn't remember anymore whether he was still in jail or not.

The next thing Colby registered was Martin and Ross talking above him.

"We'll give him an hour, see what the drug does to him," Martin laughed as he and Ross walked out the door.

Colby heard the door shutting and noticed the silence. The silence only amplified the sound of his head thudding. His eyes were barely open, but they were open enough to see the dirt on the ground. He felt so disoriented. Where was his team? Was Martin right, they thought he was a traitor? Was he a traitor? No…no he was on a mission, that much he remembered.

Colby was getting scared now, his mind wasn't functioning properly, he was finding it hard to breathe, and he didn't even know if his friends, the people he called his family, were still on his side. Was he alone? Was he going to die alone?

All of a sudden his mind started flashing images.

_Him in the interrogation room and David barging in accusing him of being a traitor._

_David calling him a liar, telling him he betrayed him from the other side of the cell bars._

_Colby telling David that they've been bestfriends for 2 years and David bitterly replying that they had not been bestfriends for 2 years because Colby had been lying to him for two years…once again David was on the other side of the cell bars._

_David telling him he wanted him gone, once again from the other side of the cell bars._

David had visited him in jail? Was his team even allowed to?

Everything was jumbled up in his mind and the more information he tried to process the more confused he became. He knew it was the affects of the drug, but he couldn't piece anything together besides the fact that Martin and Ross had him and were clearly torturing him and that he was certain he had been on a mission, and that he wasn't really a traitor. That was all he knew for sure right now…

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Everytime they thought they had something, it turned up a dead end.

Six days…it had been six days since Martin and Ross had taken Colby, and they weren't any closer to finding him than they were six days ago. They all knew the longer Colby was missing, the smaller their window, of getting him back alive and in one piece, was getting.

The only upside to this whole day came when Don announced that Ian Edgerton was on his way in to assist with the mission.

They could really use someone with fresh eyes, and someone who wasn't as emotionally involved as everyone else on the team.

When Ian arrived they all met in the conference room.

"Sorry it took so long, I was finishing a mission up in Arizona when I heard of Colby's kidnapping, I came as soon as I could" he smiled sympathetically at the entire team. Ian knew how close this particular team of FBI agents were. Although he had only worked with them on a few cases their chemistry and family like bond to each other was clear to anyone who had been in the presence for even a few hours.

"Hey man, we're just glad you can help at all, we could really use some fresh eyes on this case," Don sounded exhausted and this didn't go unnoticed to Ian.

They spent the next half hour briefing Ian on what had happened while Colby was in prison, the actual kidnapping, and the tapes that had been sent to them.

"I worked with those two on a case a year or so back, I could tell something was always off about them, they never exactly fell into the "obedient good soldier" category."

Once they were done briefing Ian everyone went back to their workstations to continue to try and dig up anything they could find.

Ian and Don were the last to leave as Ian signalled Don to stay in the conference room.

"How's everyone holding up?"

Don ran a hand through his hair.

"You want the truth?"

Ian nodded.

"We're barely keeping it together. Megan, Liz, and Charlie are working without sleep, and David…"

Don didn't need to finish that sentence.

"Yea…I can only imagine what he's going through, it's tough enough when it's a team member but when it's you're best friend-practically brother," Ian said shaking his head.

Don rested his head against the glass wall.

"We'll find him Don," Ian placed a reassuring hand on Don's shoulder.

It was kind of nice to hear someone say that to him instead of him having to be the one to keep saying it.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Colby wasn't sure how long it had been since he was drugged. It felt like days but he knew it must have only been a few hours at the most.

Colby had puked twice when the nausea had gotten the best of him. He somehow managed to roll himself away from the puke, but he had rolled himself till he was backed against a wall of the room so he tried his best to control the vomiting, knowing full well that he really couldn't control it, but maybe if he thought he could then he really could.

His breathing had gotten somewhat easier but his head was still pounding and his sense of time was completely off. He was still confused about anything that occurred prior to him being in this room.

Martin's words of his team and David not coming for him kept repeating itself in his head.

_Your team isn't coming for you, they hate you!_

_The way you're partner, David, looked at you…it's the exact same way I look at you, with disgust and hatred."_

_And what does that say about you huh? That you're best friend wouldn't even give you the benefit of the doubt?_

_I'm sure you're team, especially David, will thank me once you're dead!"_

Colby didn't know what to believe anymore, he wanted more than anything to believe that Martin was lying, that his team was looking for him, that they cared whether he lived or died, but everything he remembered – the flashes of David, made it seem as if Martin was telling the truth.

But he just didn't know anymore, and that scared the crap out of him. He didn't know if he was still a traitor in everyone's eyes, if he had been cleared, if they had been told he was only on a mission.

He felt so alone…he just wished that this feeling was induced by the drugs and was not really reality.

As Colby kept trying to figure out fact from fiction his thoughts were interrupted by the familiar creaking of the door being opened as he saw a pair of shoes step into the room.

Colby closed his eyes and took a breath, he wasn't sure if he could handle anymore of Martin or Ross's physical, or even mental, torture right now.

When Colby didn't hear any words come out of Martin or Ross's mouth, whichever one was in here with him, and when he didn't feel any physical blows he looked up to see what they were doing.

As Colby's eyes reached that of the other occupant in the room his heart came to a halt. He couldn't believe what he was seeing….

"David?" Colby couldn't keep the smile off his face despite all the pain he was in. David had found him, he had actually found him. His best friend hadn't given up on him...David had come for him...he wasn't alone anymore...

Colby saw David freeze for a moment as if him calling his name had shocked him. He then saw a big wide grin spread across David's face as David started walking towards him.

"Hey Grang…Colby"

**TBC....**

**side note: the drug mescaline that i mention in here is an actual drug and does exactly what my story says. Hitler did also use it during the war as torture. I did some research to find a drug that would cause hallucinations because I didn't want to use the one that Lancer used in the episode and I found this drug and thought it would be perfect for the story. I am in no way advocating the use of this drug and I think Hitler was one of the worst men, if not THE ABSOLUTE WORST MOST DESPICABLE MAN, to ever walk this planet!!!...but with that said, the drug fit my story perfectly so i used it lol**


	7. Special delivery to David Sinclair

Hey guys!!!! So here's the next chapter, sooo sorry about the delay! Hope you guys enjoy this chapter :).

**Just a little side note: for anyone who was offended by my posting an "update" chapter, I apologize, I had read the rules so long ago and I completely forgot that wasn't allowed. I just wanted to make sure you guys knew I wasn't bailing on this story, that I was just super busy with university classes, that's why I had put it up :). But I assure you I won't do it again, and for the person who left that rude comment in the reviews saying I should be banned for doing it, thank you for bringing it to my attention, however, a simple reminder of the rules would have been nice and would have been the respectful thing to do as one author to another…it was a one-time mistake, just remember that people make mistakes before you go saying things that are uncalled for okie :).**

Anywho, just had to get that off my chest lol Hope you guys enjoy this chapter :) !!!!

* * *

Ian was there bright and early with everyone else in the office. Ian could tell that the team has practically been running off of no sleep and vast amounts of coffee for the past week since Colby had been kidnapped, especially David, he looked like road kill.

The team showed Ian all of the tapes in hopes that he could find some clue they missed as to where they may be holding Colby. Before David could opt out of watching the tapes again Don spoke up.

"Hey guys, while you all review the tapes with Ian, David and I are going to go follow up on some of the leads we've received. The minute you guys catch anything you give me a call ok?"

"Sure thing Don," Meghan nodded her head.

************

Don and David got in the SUV and headed towards the first call they had received about someone who had seen men who looked like Ross and Martin.

"Thanks Don," David knew that Don had only dragged him along so he wouldn't have to watch the tapes again.

Don took a quick glance over at David.

"Don't mention it David"

David nodded his head and looked out the window.

"How you doing David?"

"I'm fine," replied David still keeping his gaze out the window.

"Cuz you know, if you wanna talk…"

"I don't"

"I'm just saying it might be good for you to…"

"I said I'm fine Don!" David snapped his head around to face Don this time.

"Right…" Don said as he snapped his attention back to the road. He knew better than to push David to talk. David was the type of person who opened up when he wanted to, and no amount of pushing could make him open up. Unless you were Colby Granger, Colby was the only one who could ever get David to open up when he didn't want to. Don was always curious to find out how Colby did it, but there really was no special method Colby used, so Don just figured it was simply due to the fact that Granger and Sinclair were practically brothers, and best friends had ways of getting things out of each other that no one else could.

The car was silent for a few seconds before David spoke up.

"I'm sorry…I didn't mean to…"

Don held up his hand to interrupt David.

"David, man you do not need to apologize to me, trust me I may not have ever been where you are right now, but I can only imagine what I'd be like if, god forbid, anything were to ever happen to Charlie…just…take care of yourself alright, if not for you then for Colby. You're one of my best agents, I need you in top shape if we're going to get Granger back."

David starred at a very interesting spot on the ground avoiding eye contact with Don.

"I know," he said as he turned his attention back to the passing scenery.

Don nodded his head and ended that discussion, he knew he wasn't going to get anything else out of David.

*******

Back at the office, the rest of the team was still going over the tapes sent in.

"These guys are sick," Ian was shaking his head. "I've seen some pretty messed up things in my line of work, but sending torture tapes to an FBI office, they're ballsy, and that's generally a really bad thing."

Meghan nodded her head in agreement.

"We've been over and over these tapes, and Charlie has practically nothing to work on to get an equation going, so unless they slip up and someone sees them, or there's something on these tapes then…"

"We'll find something Meghan," Ian assured. "These guy are definitely good, but nobody's perfect…except for maybe me." Ian smirked.

This got a laugh out of the team and Ian was grateful that they all still had some energy left in them.

The team got back to going over the tapes. They went over each tape at least ten times. On the fifth try on the most recent tape Ian thought he caught a glimpse of something.

"Charlie, rewind it for a second"

"Did you see something?" Liz stood up straight in her seat.

"Maybe, Charlie pause it right there. Zoom in on that piece of glass at the corner of the room."

"What glass…oh…wow, man how did you…"

"I told you, I'm perfect," Ian joked again and Charlie gave him a smile.

"Can you clear up the image a little…a little more…a little more…perfect!"

"Baxter-Max Ltd." Charlie read out.

"Ian…you may have just saved Colby's life," Megan had the biggest smile on her face as she picked up the phone.

"Don, yeah…Ian found something…okay…yeah okay see you in a couple minutes"

********

Don hung up his cell.

"That was Megan, Ian found something on the tapes!"

"What? What was it?"

"Dunno, they're going to fill us in when we get back,"

"Well, what are we doing! Let's head back!"

Don hadn't seen this much energy in David since…well since the whole Chinese fiasco. For the first time in a week he saw light in David's eyes and he really hoped that Ian had a legit lead, because he didn't think him and team could take another disappointment right now, especially not David.

********

David and Don flew threw the doors of the office.

"What did you find?" David practically jumped on Ian.

"See for yourself," Ian said as he pointed to the screen.

"Baxter-Max Ltd" Don read out.

"Yeah Ian found this reflecting off a little piece of glass on the floor in the corner of the room," Charlie had the biggest smile on his face.

"Ok, good job Ian! Everyone go and see what Baxter-Max Ltd is, who owns it, who operates it, where their headquarters are, where their warehouses are, everything and anything you can find about this company, I want found! Meet back here in an hour and we'll compile everything we have."

Everyone ran to their desks and immediately started researching.

***********************

Everyone met back in the conference room in exactly an hour.

"Kay guys what did we find?"

"Baxter-Max Ltd. Is no longer in operation," began Megan.

"They shut down in 2000 and haven't operated since," David continued.

"Ok, so did anyone find anything on where the remaining crates may have been shipped or where they may be holding them?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"I've found the warehouses in the LA area where they used to ship mass amounts of cargo for storage," Megan handed the papers over to Don.

"Great! Ok everyone take a page and head down to these warehouses."

******************

A couple hours later everyone met back together.

"Anything guys?"

"All the ones I checked out haven't had Baxter-Max crates in their warehouses for years. All the one's they had they either sent back or just threw out," Liz said as she took a seat.

"Same here," Megan shook her head.

"Same here," David said dejected.

"Damnit!" Don pounded his fist on the table. "Ok guys…we just haveta keep looking, someone clearly still has some remaining crates in their warehouse, if we can find that warehouse, we can find Colby!"

"Don, there are thousands of companies that Baxter-Max used to ship to," Liz began.

"Then we get the name of each and every one of those companies!" Don said with a little more snap than he intended.

"Well," Charlie started. "If you guys can get me a list of all the companies, however thousand they may be, I might be able to narrow our search down based on the information we have right now, and I can pinpoint you to a search area."

"You heard the man, get searching!" Don ordered as he headed to his desk to do his own research.

**********************

By the time the team had compiled the list of all the warehouses it was 1am. Everyone was dead tired and since nothing else could be done until Charlie ran his equation Don decided to tell everyone to head home.

"Ok guys, amazing job today! Ian, good eye man!" Don said smiling at his team. "I think it's time for all of us to go get some shut eye, we can't do anything till Charlie runs his equation so we might as well go get refreshed so we can go get Colby back tomorrow!"

The smiles were contagious in the room. Don even noticed a slight smile on David's face, and slight or not, he'll take what he can get.

Everyone started filing out of the office. Don walked over to David.

"Time to go home bud, we're no help to Colby if we're dead tired tomorrow."

"Yea…I know, I just need a minute," David said as he sat in his chair.

Don understood, this day had been an emotional rollercoaster and he knew David just needed some time alone.

"Alright David, just lock up behind you when you head home," Don patted David on the shoulder and left the building.

"Sure thing Don"

David watched as Don left, and let out a big sigh. What a day, it started off with them being exactly where they had been a week ago…absolutely nowhere, and ended up with them having a legit lead as to the whereabouts of Colby. There was a lot riding on Charlie's equation, and he really hoped…no he needed, Charlie to come through like he had so many times before.

With that David took a deep breath and gathered his stuff. He knew Don was right, there wasn't anything he could do until Charlie had his equation so he figured he might as well go home. As he stood up to leave he saw an orange parcel sticking out from under a bunch of papers.

He picked up the parcel from under all the paper and looked at who it was addressed to.

_David Sinclaire_

He wondered how he missed a package that was sitting on his desk, granted it was underneath all the paper.

David had an uneasy feeling as he peeled open the package and his uneasy feeling was reinforced when he saw what was inside the package.

It was exactly what he feared…it was another tape.

David walked into the conference room and hesitantly put in the disc.

As the camera focused David could see Colby on the ground with his hands and feet still tied. When no one else seemed to be in the room David breathed a sigh of relief, which he knew wouldn't last long. He was right on the money as Martin walked in five seconds later. David watched as Martin walked into the room and closed the door behind him.

David was almost tempted to turn it off right now, remembering what the previous tape had made them see, he didn't think he could handle seeing his best friend beaten again.

David's heart was beating a little fast in anticipation of what he was about to see, and his heart plummeted to his stomach when he heard the next words out of Colby's mouth.

"_David?"_

David saw Martin freeze, he looked honestly shocked. The shock was soon replaced with a wide grin as David realized the same thing Martin probably had just realized…Colby was hallucinating.

David was almost too scared to watch this.

"_Hey Grang…Colby"_

"_Y-you found me man, I knew-I knew you would f-find me"_

David's heart sank at the smile that spread on Colby's face. These assholes had drugged his best friend and were now going to use him to do god knows what to Colby. David felt sick.

"_Of course Colby…of course I'd find a traitor like you"_

Oh god. This is exactly what David was afraid of. His heart sank a little more as he saw the smile disappear from Colby's face.

"_W-what…David…"_

"_What? You didn't honestly think I was here to rescue you did you?...Oh you did…well sorry man I make it a habit not to rescue traitors!"_

_Martin walked a few steps closer to Colby._

"_No…David…I'm not…a traitor…under…cover" Colby's breathes were coming in gasps._

"_Are you that delusional! You were not working under cover! You made up that story to cover your ass!"_

"_No…no I didn't…I wouldn't…"_

"_Shutup Colby, I don't wanna hear it! You betrayed this country, you betrayed the team, and you betrayed ME!" Martin yelled as walked closer to Colby._

"_No…I wouldn't…David you h-have to believe me"_

"_Believe you?! How am I supposed to believe you! You've been lieing to me for 2 years!"_

"_I'm sorry…I had…had to"_

"_Colby you need to see a psych or something cuz you weren't undercover man! You're just a traitor!"_

"_No…I…I…" Colby was finding it harder and harder to remember. Was David right? Was he a traitor…was the under cover story something he just fabricated because he was so ashamed of what he had done?_

David saw Colby fighting with his emotions. The drugs were messing him up bad. He could see that Colby was having a hard time figuring out whether the fake David was telling the truth or not.

"_You betrayed the country Colby! That's why we interrogated you, that's why you went to jail, and that's why you and carter planned your escape!"_

_Colby started getting flashes of what David was saying to him. He remembered getting caught, he remembered seeing the angry and hurt look on David's face in the interrogation room, he remembered going to jail and escaping with Carter, he remembered at some point talking to his mom on the phone and her calling him a traitor and to never call again, and then he remembered more of David just screaming at him, calling him a traitor. Why would David and his mom lie to him about this…unless they weren't lying._

"_Oh god…"_

"_Yeah! Now you remember! You're a traitor Granger, and that's exactly why Agent Martin and Agent Ross have you, I handed you over to them!"_

David started to feel nauseous. He saw the mixed look of hurt and panic in Colby.

"_You…no…David…help me…please…they're trying…trying to kill me…"_

_Martin bent down so that his face was only mere inches from Colby's._

"_Good…I hope they kill you Colby"_

_Colby felt his heart break at hearing his best friend say those words to him._

"_No…you…you don't mean that…"Colby was almost pleading with David to take it back._

"_Yea…I do. I hate you Colby, you mean nothing to me anymore, do you get that? NOTHING! You betrayed us, betrayed me..."_

"_No…I didn't…I" Colby was shaking his head, willing all of this just to be a nightmare he'd wake up from._

"_I only wish that I could stick around and watch them torture you some more!"_

"_David…"Colby's eyes started to tear up at the painful words coming out of his friends mouth. "Please…"_

"_Please what Granger! At least have some dignity and die without bitching about it!"_

_Colby was finding it harder and harder to breathe._

"_David…please man…I can't…everything hurts too much…"_

"_Good! You deserve everything they're doing to you!"_

_And with that Martin got up and started walking towards the door._

"_David…"Colby started before Martin reached the door._

_Martin turned around._

"_I'm…sorry…I'm sorry for the things I did…and for hurting…hurting you. I don't know why…why I did it…I can't remember…I'm sorry I was a terrible…friend."_

_Martin started walking towards Colby again. This time he looked down at Colby before taking his boot and jamming it into Colby's mid section and then bending down, grabbed Colby by the collar and started to repeatedly punch him in the face._

_Colby let out a cry as "David" assaulted his body. When Martin was done he stood up._

"_I don't want your pitiful apologies, I could care less if you're sorry or not, you're already dead to me Granger, do you hear me! You're dead to me!"_

_Martin stood up and walked away as Colby started to cough up blood from the attack._

David sat there starring at the screen…

_Colby's breathing was coming in short gasps._

_What had he done? Why had he betrayed his country and his friends? All his memories were so mixed up and he couldn't tell truths from lies. But why would David lie to him about this? And David had never physically fought with him before, so he clearly had a reason to. God what had he done._

_Colby felt completely and utterly alone this time, and this time he knew no one was coming for him, he had no one anymore, and why would he…he's a traitor. Colby felt his eyes welling up with tears, everything David had said to him hit him to the core, for the first time since Colby was in here he started to cry._

_So all that torturing and not once did he break, but David comes in says a few things and it breaks Colby in half._

_*********_

The camera shut off just as Colby was heaving for breath. David stood there starring at the blank screen in front of him.

At first he felt numb, he felt nothing, he felt like he was in someone else's body.

And then it all hit him.

First came rage, he was going to kill Martin and Ross if it was the last thing he did. They've been torturing his best friend and then pretended to be him to torture him further! The look on Colby's face when Martin aka "David" had said all those hurtful things to him…how he had made Colby believe that he truly was a traitor…

This thought then led to guilt. It opened up a whole new can of worms for David. He had never felt this guilty in his life…not for anything. David hadn't handed Colby over to Martin and Ross as Martin had stated, but he may as well have! He did everything but physically hand Colby over; he had been the one ignoring Colby since he came back, which then led to Colby asking him if he wanted him gone, which then resulted in him saying yes, which led to Colby being alone in that parking lot at night with no weapon on him, leaving him vulnerable to Martin and Ross's attack. If only he had not ignored Colby, if only he had forgiven him and put his pride aside, if only he had said what he truly wanted to say and ask Colby to stay…if only he had been the best friend that Colby had always been to him.

All these "if only's" and all the guilt brought to surface the drive and determination in him that so many people admired. He couldn't let Colby down again…he wouldn't. He was going to find his best friend if it was the last thing he did!

**TBC….**


	8. The race to find Colby

**I'm backkk!!! Hahaha So you guys must totally hate me right now lol I'm so very sorry about the delay. I was hoping to have this story done before I went on vacation for my sister's wedding…but yea didn't happen, last minute packing and preparations. Anyways, no excuses! I'm very sorry! I sat here for the past 2 hours and wrote this chapter from start to finish because I felt so bad lol The next chapter will probably be the last, and should be up by the end of this week. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter :)**

* * *

David hadn't made it home last night; a realization that dawned on Don when he walked into the break room to find David on the couch.

_Damnit David…_

Don wanted nothing more than to yell at David for not getting a good night's rest in his own bed but he knew the last thing David needed right now was to be yelled at. At least David had gotten some sleep, that was the most important thing. Don decided not to wake David and let him rest a bit more, at least until everyone else got there.

As Don put on the pot of coffee he heard David stir and seconds later David was sitting upright on the couch.

Don sighed.

"Sleep well?"

David looked tiredly at his boss as he shook his head. The video from last night kept replaying in his mind. It made David sick to his stomach, if they didn't find Colby today David was going to lose it.

"This wasn't exactly what I meant when I told you to go home and rest," Don smiled as he reached for a mug.

Without responding David simply stood up, walked over to where he had placed the disc last night and then walked over to Don, handing Don the disc.

"Is this…" Don looked at the disc he was being handed as a sinking feeling set in.

"It was on my desk last night, must have been put there by our mail guy during the day, but it managed to get covered up by paperwork. I found it under my pile as I was about to leave"

Don looked at the disc then at David quizzically.

"Why was it sent to you and not the team?"

David swallowed the lump in his throat.

"You'll see."

With that David left the room and headed to the washroom to freshen up.

Don watched David leave and knew that this was going to be bad.

He walked over to the player and set the disc in. For the next 5-10 minutes Don sat there with his hand covering his mouth as he was made painfully aware as to why this was sent to David.

At the end of the tape Don sat there for a few minutes trying to get a grasp on everything. He knew David was a mess over this, and he was worried as to what would happen to not only Colby, but David, if they didn't find Colby today, especially after this last taping.

Don waited till David returned to his desk before he approached his senior agent.

"David…I'm sorry you had to see that man, I wish we were here with you last night," Don said as he sat on the edge of David's desk. Don looked up and saw Colby's empty desk opposite David's. Don shook his head and looked back at David.

"We have to find him Don…today."

The fear in David's eyes were evident. The fear of what would happen if they were to receive another video, fear of what would happen if they didn't find Colby today.

"David, I need to know that if we don't find Colby today, that you're not gonna fall apart on us," Don said cautiously. He knew he was threading on a thin line, but he needed to take care of David as well as Colby.

"You don't think we're going to find him today?" David questioned accusingly.

"No, that's not what I'm saying David. I just need you to know that even if we don't find him today, we will find him."

David shook his head.

"No…we're finding him today," David finished as he looked away from Don.

Don sighed. He knew better than to argue with David right now, so he just left it.

* * *

Within the hour everyone had made it into the office and had seen the video footage from the night before. Megan was about to go talk to David when she saw Charlie rushing through the office doors.

"I got it, I got the location," Charlie yelled as he rushed into the conference room.

As expected, everyone rushed in after him, David being the first in there.

Charlie turned the screen on and projected his map on the screen.

"Ok, so according to all the data I have, which wasn't a whole lot but it's better than nothing, there's an 70% chance that Colby is being held in this warehouse right here," Charlie said pinpointing the warehouse on the map.

"70…" Don repeated. He was really hoping for 100, they all were.

"It's the best I could come up with the data Don, I tried everything," Charlie said suddenly feeling incompetent.

"I know Chuck, I didn't mean anything on your part, it just sucks that we don't have more data for you to go on," he said as he patted his brother's shoulder.

"It would help if I had more data, but 70 is better than nothing right?"

"Definitely," said Megan as she smiled at Charlie. Charlie smiled back as the rest of the team began to write down the location.

Don went outside the conference room to call Ian and let him know the location.

"You ok?" Megan asked as she took a seat beside David.

David looked at her and it broke her heart to see the pain so evidently vivid in his eyes.

"I'm so sorry you had to see that…what they did…god….we're gonna find him David," she said as she placed a hand on his back.

"I know…" It was all David could say, it was all he could believe, because believing anything other than that was just not comprehensible right now.

Just then Don walked back into the conference room.

"Alright guys let's role! Ian's gonna meet us there."

With that, everyone grabbed their gear and headed out.

Before leaving Don walked up to Charlie.

"You did good buddy," he said as he smiled proudly at his little brother.

Charlie shook his head.

"You can tell me that once you find him."

Don nodded his head and headed out with the team.

"I'll call you the minute we find him Chuck," Don yelled as he was walking out the door.

* * *

When everyone reached the site they gathered around one of the SUV's to plan their mode of entrance.

"This is a huge warehouse, so we're gonna have to split up. Generally I'm against sending an agent in alone but granted the circumstances and the urgency, we're each going to take one section of this warehouse. I've split it into 5 and they're labeled on the map. Ian will take section one, I'll take two, David 3, Megan 4, and Liz 5. When you're done your section, radio in."

Don put the blueprints away in the SUV.

"Let's hope that Colby's in here," he said as he led the way into the warehouse.

********

One by one the agents made their way into their sections.

An hour had gone by with no sign of Colby and everyone was becoming anxious, this wasn't looking good.

"Guys…I may have something," Don suddenly radioed in.

"There's a small door here," Don said as he placed his ear against the door. "I can hear voices from the other side."

Everyone's heart began to race. David's ears were pinned on the radio.

"I'm going in," Don radioed in.

The team could hear the sound of the door being kicked open and Don yelling for everyone to freeze. There was silence for a bit as Don took in the room.

David was on the edge of his heels ready to run to Don's section to get his partner.

However, everyone's hearts sank again as Don came back on the radio.

"Damnit! It's just a stupid radio in the room, someone was definitely here…but no sign of Colby."

With everyone's instant hope crushed, they returned back to the task of finding their agent.

*****

One by one the agent's radioed in. They were all done thoroughly checking, then re-checking, their sections to no avail. Colby was nowhere to be found. The last agent left still checking was David.

David's section was especially dark, and creaky. As he got near the end of his section, his heart began to sink. He couldn't leave here without his best friend. This was the last section…Colby had to be here…he just had to be.

David's eyes started to sting a bit as the last conversation Colby and him had had at the office kept replaying in his head. He hated himself for what he had done, for the things he had said. The guilt was eating him alive and if they didn't find Colby…David honestly didn't know what he'd do. But no…he couldn't think that…they were going to find Colby because really…there was no other option.

David continued on searching every inch of his section until he realized he was at the end.

_No…no…_

"David…"

It was Don's voice on the other end of the radio.

"David…are you done your section?"

"I…" David couldn't say it…he couldn't say it was at the end of his section without finding Colby.

"David…come on man, let's head back to the SUV…"

David shook his head even though no one could see.

"No…no not yet…he could still be here," David started to look around frantically for anything, any sign that Colby was somewhere in his section.

"David…" Don couldn't do this, he couldn't let David torture himself like this.

Within minutes the entire team was in David's section.

"David," it was Megan this time. "Look, Charlie could work out another equation, with this spot off the map he may be able to get a clearer picture of where Colby is." Megan tried to reason with him.

"No…no…he's here Megan…he has to be here…"

"David…" Don looked worriedly at his senior agent. This was exactly what he was worried about.

David ignored everyone's looks and pleas and headed back down his section. The rest of the team followed, all trying to reason with him that their best option was to head back. For ten minutes they all tried to reason with him, while David spent those ten minutes ignoring them and frantically looking around for anything, anything that would lead him to Colby. Finally Don had had enough as he walked up to David.

"David, this isn't helping Colby. We're just wasting time man, he's not here."

"He is here…" David said as he continued looking around the room. David knew he sounded crazy and was acting crazy...but Colby had to be here...this warehouse was the only clue they had had...if Colby wasn't here...

"DAVID! LISTEN TO ME! HE'S NOT HERE!" Don hated raising his voice, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

This got David's attention. He turned around and started heading straight for Don, ready to get into Don's face and give him a piece of his mind, to let Don know that there was no way he was leaving without Colby, when all of a sudden David stopped dead in his tracks.

"Did you guys hear that?" he asked as he froze.

"Hear what?" they all practically said in unison.

David lifted his right foot and slammed it down again on the exact spot he was standing on.

They all heard it this time. It was the sound of something slamming into a hollow floorboard. The other floorboards didn't sound like that.

"There's something here," David said as he bent down to lift the floor board up.

Sure enough there was a square shaped hole with a ladder, leading down into a tunnel.

"Oh my god…" Megan covered her mouth with her hand. 70% or not, this was something.

"David," Don didn't know what to say. His expression was a mix between an apology and awe.

* * *

The hope of finding Colby was once again restored in all the agents as they walked through the tunnel. The walk through the tunnel was a good 10 minutes but finally at the end of the tunnel was a door.

David's heart started to beat fast as he approached the door and held the doorknob in his hand. This was it…if Colby wasn't in here…

David took a deep breath, with his gun in his right hand, he turned the knob with his left.

It was dark at first but when their eyes adjusted to the room David froze, as did everyone on the team.

Megan gasped and actually started to cry and David felt his chest tighten and his stomach flip as his eyes began to tear.

There on the ground, on the muddy, dirty ground, arms and legs still tied was his partner, his best friend….his brother.

"Oh my god," Don couldn't believe it, they had finally found Colby. He immediately pulled out his phone to call an ambulance.

David was the first to move towards Colby. Finding Colby was one thing, but finding him alive was another. With his heart beating insanely fast, so fast that David was sure it was about to pop out of his chest, he made his way to his partner. As he got closer he noticed the small rise and fall of Colby's chest and he actually let a tear fall…Colby was alive.

As David got closer he was about to untie the rope around Colby's feet and arms when he noticed that Colby's eye's weren't completely closed.

_Oh my god…he's awake._

The rest of the team was slowly following behind David. They didn't all want to rush to Colby because they didn't know what kind of condition he was in. If he was still delusional seeing a lot of people at once may not be good for him.

When David finally reached Colby's side he knelt down right beside him. As Colby locked eyes with David, David took a deep breath and let another tear fall.

**Colby heard the door creak open as it had done several times over the past god knows how many days. He couldn't do this anymore…he couldn't take this anymore, he just wished they would kill him now and get it over with. No one would miss him anyways, he just wanted this all to be over.**

**Colby's heart stopped as he saw people walk into the room. There were more than 2 this time…they had brought friends. This was it, Colby just knew it, he was going to die today.**

**Colby saw one of the men walking towards him very slowly, the others moved forward too but were still pretty far behind the man in the front.**

**Colby 's heart sank as he saw the shoes of the man…he recognized the shoes instantly. As the man bent down in front of him, Colby began to quiver a bit as he locked eyes with his former partner and best friend. Colby remembered what happened the last time he had seen David and it broke his heart that he was going to be killed at the hands of his best friend.**

"Hey man," David shakily said as he smiled and reached to put his shaking hand on Colby's shoulder.

**The hand headed for him seemed to be coming at an alarming speed. Was David going to beat him to death?**

The minute David started to reach out he saw the instant fear and pain that filled Colby's eyes before Colby broke off eye contact. Colby proceeded to pull into himself to protect himself while trying to jerk away from David's touch.

David's heart shattered as he saw the way Colby had looked at him and the way Colby pulled away from his touch. At first he thought it was because of the things he had said to Colby right before Colby left, but then he remembered. He remembered the video from last night as it started to replay in David's mind.

_Oh god…he thinks I'm here to hurt him._

"Colby no, I'm not here to hurt you," David pleaded but Colby was still shaking as he closed in on himself more.

"Colby that wasn't me last time, I promise you! That wasn't me!" David tried to reason with him to get Colby to understand.

It killed him to see the state Colby was in, not only physically but mentally, and it killed him even more to know that his best friend was terrified of him. Not that he blamed Colby at all, after what Martin had done, saying those horrible things and beating Colby while pretending to be him, he was kicking himself for not expecting this reaction. But still, expecting or not, it still hurt.

**Colby could hear David talking, he heard every word come out of David's mouth, but it couldn't be…he had seen David…talked to David.**

"Colby please man, you have to believe me, it was Martin, not me…you were hallucinating because of the drugs."

_**What…hallucinating…no…no…I saw him….**_

"God Colby…I'm so sorry man, I'm so sorry, but that wasn't me Colby," David pleaded his voice shaking as more tears threatened to fall.

Hearing the agony in David's voice Colby stopped and slowly looked up at David.

_**He has tears in his eyes….why does he have tears in his eyes.**_

**Colby looked at David, and this time he really looked at David.**

**The only time Colby had seen his partner look so distraught was in the interrogation room after the janus list had come out.**

_**Drugs…**_

**Colby knew he had been drugged, he tried to remember what Martin had said about the drug...and then he remembered…vivid hallucinations…**

**Colby broke eye contact with David and looked at the ground. He was so confused, he was trying to piece everything together. He was so sure it was David that had been here the other night…but then why was David here now…with tears in his eyes…**

"Colby…"

**It was David again, and this time when he looked up at his former partner, it hit him that David was telling the truth. Suddenly Colby felt like he couldn't breathe as tears immediately began to sting his eyes…David had found him....he wasn't alone anymore.**

"**D-Dav-id…" Colby blinked as he curled out of himself and looked into the sorrowful eyes of his best friend.**

David let out an audible sound that was a mix between a sob and an exhalation.

David's hand was still shaking as he reached for Colby, holding back his tears with everything he had, as Colby didn't pull away this time.

"God Colby…" David moved closer to his best friend. David quickly pulled out his pocket knife and cut the ropes around Colby's feet and hands.

As Colby's hands were released they began to shake as David helped him move them to the front of his body.

David cautiously, being aware of Colby's injuries, proceeded to slowly move Colby's head onto his lap. David justified that it was to get Colby's head off the dirty floor, but really, he just wanted -no needed- to be close to his best friend.

At the instant warm contact of his head in David's lap, Colby began to cry. He wasn't alone anymore.

"I got you Colby…I got you…" David, although his voice shaky, repeated. He felt Colby's entire body shaking. He knew that it was not only from the sobs but from the sheer exhaustion and torment that Colby had been put through the past week. David held onto Colby a little tighter.

Colby reached up slightly and grabbed the sleeve of David's shirt. He gripped the sleeve tight as if it was the only thing keeping him from falling into a really dark place.

For days he dreamt of this, dreamt of being saved, dreamt of his team…of David walking through those doors and getting him out of here. Finally it had happened, so he held onto David, he held onto David because David hadn't given up on him…he had saved him…and as the overwhelming feeling of everything that had happened, all the torture both mentally and physically over the past, god knows how many days, he just needed to feel the closeness of the one person who meant the most to him. He wasn't alone in that thought.

David let a tear finally fall as he felt Colby's grip on his sleeve. The entire week rushed back to him. A week...a whole week of agony. Everything they had done to Colby, how badly they had hurt him, tortured him, not only now but back when he was in prison...how David had had to just sit by and watch those tapes feeling completely helpless and useless and hating himself and blaming himself and wanting nothing more than to take Colby's place...to make them stop hurting him. How he dreaded every night that they weren't going to find Colby alive.

But none of that mattered right now...not in this moment...because Colby was alive….

God Colby was alive.

**TBC…**


End file.
